Mamata Banerjee not to participate in virtual meeting with PM Modi

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will not participate in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's virtual meeting with chief ministers, scheduled for Wednesday, highly-placed sources in the state secretariat said.
The two-phased meeting is being held as the country gradually emerges from the about three-and-a-half-month-long lockdown.
"Instead, a senior official of the state government will participate in the meeting," the sources said, adding that the decision was taken since there was no schedule for Banerjee to speak at the meet.
The chief minister is likely to chair a review committee meeting scheduled to be held at the secretariat around the same time, the sources said.
Modi held the first round of consultation with the chief ministers of Punjab, Assam, Kerala and several other states and Union territories on Tuesday.
He is scheduled to meet the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the remaining Union territories on Wednesday.