New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday but the NRC process did not figure during their discussion which was mostly on developmental issues.
The Trinamool Congress chief, who is opposed to the implementation of a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in her state, later said there was no provision of this process of preparing a list of genuine citizens being extended to West Bengal.
She also raised the issue of the state's renaming and invited Modi to Bengal.
The meeting at the prime minister's residence lasted for about half an hour. Banerjee said the discussion was not political but focused on developmental issues of the state.
She met the prime minister for the first time after he won a second term. She did not turn up for Modi's swearing-in ceremony and skipped a meeting of the Niti Aayog.
Talking to reporters later, she said,"Haven't spoken about NRC with the PM. NRC is part of the Assam Accord, hence there is no provision of its implementation all over the country or in West Bengal. Neither there is any proposal, nor will it ever be done in Bengal."
Banerjee, who is on a three-day visit to the national capital, also said she discussed issues like BSNL, Defence Ordnance Factory, Railway and Coal with Modi.
"We submitted a lot of documents to substantiate the requests we made. Bengal's GDP is 12.8, which is highest across the country. We showed him how Bengal is progressing despite huge debt burden. We also gave him documents to highlight our achievements in the field of economy and infrastructure,"she said.
Banerjee also said she raised the issue of renaming West Bengal and added that Modi was not averse to the idea.