West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the sidelines of the Eastern Zonal Council (EZC) meeting in Bhubaneswar.
The EZC, a forum of eastern states, was chaired by the home minister. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar were also present while Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren could not make it.
The lunch was arranged at the residence of Patnaik, the vice-chairman of the EZC and host of its 24th meeting. A picture tweeted by the Odisha CM featured the leaders including Mamata Mamata dining together.
Such a pleasure having the company of Union Home Minister @AmitShah ji, my colleague CMs, @MamataOfficial, @NitishKumar ji & Union Minister @dpradhanbjp ji at Naveen Niwas. Had a wonderfully interactive time over some home cooked #Odia delicacies. pic.twitter.com/tmhfsJnDq2
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) February 28, 2020
According to news agency PTI, the EZC meeting discussed Left-wing extremism besides issues like coal-royalty revision, crimes and rail-link projects.
After the meeting, Mamata, a bitter critic of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) said she was “deeply disturbed” by the violence that rocked the northeastern part of Delhi this week.
“I am deeply disturbed and saddened by what has happened in Delhi. The families of the victims are suffering and helpless, we must stand by them. I have told the Home Minister that he should ensure that the violence should not spread because under such circumstances there is always a possibility of the violence spreading to other parts of the country,” said the West Bengal CM.
She further added that the issues of CAA and NRC were not raised in the meeting.
Mamata Banerjee had on Wednesday appealed to the people to maintain calm. “We don’t want bloodshed, we want peace,” said the chief minister reacting to the Delhi violence.