Modi, Mamata Banerjee To Review Cyclone Yaas Effects In First Post-Poll Meet

PM Narendra Modi will meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Kalaikunda Air Base in Bengal’s West Midnapore district Friday to review and assess damages, which tore through the state and neighbouring Odisha earlier this week.
This will be their first meeting since the April-May Assembly election that Ms Banerjee’s Trinamool swept – despite the opposition mounting a crass campaign fueled, in part, by the resignation of a large number of MPs, MLAs and ministers from the ruling party, several of whom joined the BJP.

The last time they were face-to-face was on January 23 – at Kolkata’s Victoria Memorial to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. On that evening Ms Banerjee erupted in anger and walked off stage in a huff after her speech was interrupted with chants of “Jai Shri Ram”.

Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will also attend today’s meeting; Mr Dhankhar has a running feud with Ms Banerjee, including hitting out at her this month over “retributive” post-poll violence.

After the meeting the Prime Minister and Chief Minister are expected to take (individual) aerial surveys of regions affected by Cyclone Yaas, which caused havoc across South and North 24 Paraganas, Digha, East Medinipur and Nandigram districts of the state.