According to state secretariat sources, Banerjee had skipped Wednesday’s meeting with Modi as her name was not on the list of speakers. (File)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will attend an all-party meeting on the India-China border dispute convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, two days after skipping a conference he had called to discuss the Covid-19 situation with chief ministers.
At a press conference on Thursday, Banerjee said: “We completely support the decision to call for an all-party meeting. Technically, it is a correct decision.”
According to a senior TMC leader, Friday’s meeting is different than the one before. “Our chief minister has already announced her support for the call for an all-party meeting on the country’s security issue. Earlier, she has mentioned that our party stands by the country in this hour of crisis. So, she has decided to attend this meeting,” he said.
According to state secretariat sources, Banerjee had skipped Wednesday’s meeting with Modi as her name was not on the list of speakers. Not only the CM, no one from the state government participated in it. Instead, Banerjee held a video conference with district officials and doctors’ organisations about the Covid-19 situation in the state.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Banerjee had said: “AITC does not speak about foreign affairs matters because we are always with the country. Let the Centre decide how they want to deal with the situation in LAC.”
She asked the Centre not to consider the state to be “weak”, and added, “Do not consider anyone to be weak. We believe in Tagore’s poem, Chitto jetha bhoyshunno, uchcho jetha shir [Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high].”