Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is in Delhi for talks with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, on Wednesday said she had never linked the financial concessions for the state with Presidential polls.
“I have never asked for Bengal package. I have only asked for moratorium (on the debt interest payment) for three years,” she told reporters ahead of leaving for her meeting with the Congress chief, during which Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature for Presidential polls is expected to be discussed.
She is currently at 10, Janpath and is meeting the Congress chief. Mamata said Presidential polls and financial package are separate issues. “It is somebody’s conspiracy to mix issues... it happens whenever I come to Delhi,” she said.
“I am going to meet Sonia ji... she wanted to discuss certain things,” Mamata said, adding “I will let you know (the outcome) after we meet”. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also invited Mamata for a meeting, the timing of which hasn’t been decided yet.
Also, she would meet Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh later this evening, apparently to discuss Presidential polls.
Mulayam, sources say, is not averse to supporting Pranab for President’s post.