CM Mamata Banerjee cancels Delhi visit today, suspense on NITI Aayog meet participation

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has cancelled her trip to Delhi on Thursday afternoon. However, it is not yet clear whether her three-day trip to the national capital has been cancelled totally or she has postponed her travel by a day.

State secretariat sources said that the Chief Minister might go to Delhi on Friday and attend the NITI Aayog event on Saturday, besides her scheduled meeting with the party Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members.

“However, there is nothing final about that as yet,” said a member of the state cabinet who refused to be named. However, he declined to make any comment on the reasons that prompted the Chief Minister to cancel her trip on Thursday.

Now it is to be seen whether the Chief Minister makes any statement later in the day or announces her changed programme.

The development has created ripples in the corridors of power in the state since the three-day trip was considered extremely crucial after the information surfaced that the Chief Minister's Office had sought time from the Prime Minister’s Office so that she could have an exclusive meeting with PM Narendra Modi during her visit to the national capital.

It was expected that in the probable meeting, the Chief Minister would discuss with the Prime Minister the pending Central dues to the state government under various centrally-sponsored schemes.