PM Narendra Modi -CM Mamata Banerjee review meet today at Kalaikunda on Yaas destruction

Kolkata/Midnapore: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Mamata Banerjee will meet at the Kalaikunda Air Force Base in West Midnapore on Friday afternoon for a “review meeting” over damage due to Cyclone Yaas.
Banerjee, who was originally scheduled to fly out to Hingalgunj and Sagar Islands before reaching Digha on Friday evening, said she will shorten her visit timelines to meet the PM in Kalaikunda between 2.15 pm and 2.30 pm.
“This will be a meeting between the Prime Minister and the chief minister,” Banerjee said, when asked by reporters whether she would like to inform the PM on the extent of damages due to Cyclone Yaas and seek help from the Centre. “How can I tell you even before I have spoken to the PM? Do not ask me to name a child even before birth?” the CM said.
“The PM will be visiting three places in Odisha, including Balasore and Jaleswar. He will take the Digha (coastal) route to reach Kalaikunda. I will meet him there. He is expected to fly out from Kalaikunda,” she said.
Banerjee said she will reach Hingalgunj on Friday and meet the North 24 Parganas district magistrate and police superintendent briefly before leaving for Sagar Islands. The CM is likely to be accompanied by state chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay. “The meetings will be very brief due to time constraints. After meeting the PM, I will reach Digha for a meeting. I will return (to Kolkata) on Saturday after an aerial survey of Digha (coastal belts), Khejuri and Nandigram that I had planned before. With the PM itinerary now, I will be going to four places. Given the inclement weather, the meetings will be very short,” she said.
In the backdrop of the high-octane Bengal elections, the PM-CM meeting in-person last took place at Victoria Memorial on January 23 for Netaji’s birth centenary celebrations. The incident had its fair share of controversy with Banerjee protesting political slogans at a function to pay tribute to Netaji — among Bengal’s most revered icons — and refused to speak. The CM, however, attended several virtual meetings with the PM, the last a week back, on Covid, which she dubbed as “super flop” where none of the CMs could speak.
An SPG team has already arrived in Midnapore for advance security liasoning. The team is based out of the IIT-Kharagpur campus. A 50-member proximate security team by the state’s VIP security wing is undergoing RT-PCR tests at Midnapore Medical College Hospital. A 30-car convoy is being kept ready and all drivers are undergoing tests. “We have been asked to conduct the tests and provide reports by today itself,” MMCH principal Panchanan Kundu said.
West Midnapore DM Rashmi Kamal visited the Kalaikunda air force base with top officials and held meetings with senior defence officials.