‘Need Supreme Court-monitored probe into Pegasus issue’: Mamata Banerjee after meeting with PM Modi
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official residence in New Delhi.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said she raised the issue of the need for more COVID-19 vaccines and medicines in West Bengal. Banerjee said she also raised the pending issue of the change of name of West Bengal to Bangla. On this, Mamata told reporters that PM Modi said, “He will see.”
After the meeting, the West Bengal CM said that the Prime Minister should call an all-party meeting on the Pegasus issue. “There should be a Supreme Court-monitored probe in this matter,” she added.
Notably, West Bengal has on Monday set up a two-member inquiry commission to probe the Pegasus spyware row.
The two-member inquiry commission will comprise of retired Supreme Court judge MB Lokur and former Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya.
Mamata Banerjee said that the panel will probe the “illegal hacking, tracking and recording of mobile phones in West Bengal”.
Meanwhile, this was the first meeting between the Prime Minister and Banerjee after she had skipped a post Cyclone Yaas review meeting chaired by Modi in May this year.
Banerjee had met the PM separately for a moment and handed over the state government’s report on the cyclone before excusing herself from the official meeting, resulting in a huge controversy.
Earlier in the day, Banerjee met senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Anand Sharma in the national capital.
Nath, after meeting the TMC supremo, said he had come to congratulate Banerjee for her victory in the recent assembly elections.
“We have not discussed any strategy. That will be discussed by the leader of our party. We just discussed the current situation and the issue of rising prices,” the Congress leader told reporters.
Nath said Banerjee’s victory in the assembly polls has sent a message across the country.
Later, Banerjee met Anand Sharma.
During the meeting, Sharma is reported to have told her that there cannot be a non-BJP front without the Congress as it is a national political party with a pan-India presence.
“Mamata Banerjee and I have close ties as we’ve worked together for years. I appreciate her for how she fought the recent polls and won. She’s come to Delhi for 1st time after victory, so I came and had tea with her,” Sharma told reporters.
She is slated to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said he is likely to meet Banerjee on Wednesday in New Delhi. “She called me last week and told me about her visit to New Delhi and her willingness to meet. I think we are likely to meet tomorrow in New Delhi,” he said.
Reports said Banerjee’s Delhi visit, is part of her efforts to cobble up a national front against the BJP. The TMC supremo is also apparently seeking to take up a larger role in national politics prior to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
