In what is being seen as the beginning of melting of ice between the Centre and Bengal Government Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would leave for Delhi on Friday to attend dinner hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee and more importantly a lunch hosted by Prime Minister Narendera Modi in the honour of visiting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, sources in the State Government said.
If Banerjee joins the party it would be after many months that she would meet the Prime Minister. The mutual chemistry between the two leaders had hit an all time low with the Chief Minister continuously attacking Modi on a host of issues beginning from demonetization, “using CBI as a weapon to gag opposition.”
Apart from this the meeting if it takes place would be crucial internationally as Bengal is a necessary party in the Indo-Bangla Teesta water sharing talks. Banerjee had repeatedly shot down proposal of sharing Teesta waters with Bangladesh arguing the arrangement would hurt the interests of the people of North Bengal.
Though sources in the State Government said officially Teesta was not going to be served on the diplomatic platter bipartite parleys featuring Modi, Mamata and Hasina and then a Modi-Hasina-Mamata meeting could help find future solution to the vexed issue.
Banerjee on her part could bargain hard with the Centre as well as BJP, Trinamool sources said. While she could ask for additional grants for Bengal’s developments “it would be well within her right to demand protection from victimization by the CBI,” said a senior Trinamool leader adding “this will be a waterless party though there could be hopes of ice breaking in the future.”