The Hindu : National : Come back, Manmohan tells Mamata

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Thursday, Jan 13, 2005

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National

Come back, Manmohan tells Mamata

By Malabika Bhattacharya

KOLKATA, JAN. 12. "Mamata, we miss you,'' the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, told the Trinamool Congress leader, Mamata Banerjee here today.

"He (Mr. Singh) told me to return to the Congress and join the Cabinet,'' an emotional Ms. Banerjee told the media at the Raj Bhavan. " The Prime Minister said it would solve all the problems," she claimed.

Dr. Singh made the offer when Ms.Banerjee, along with a Trinamool delegation, met him and handed over a cheque for Rs. 3.25 lakhs as relief to the tsunami victims. The amount comprises part of the sale proceeds from the auction of her paintings.

When the Prime Minister came out with the offer, Ms. Banerjee said, she was speechless. "Not once; he uttered those words `missing you' at least four times,'' she claimed. The Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, who was sitting next to Dr. Singh, was enjoying every bit of it, said Sultan Ahmed, a member of the delegation.

To a question, Ms. Banerjee said it was nice of Dr. Singh to have made the offer but she had her own party which has an ideology of its own. "I respect him. He knows me for a long time and has a lot of affection for me.''

Ms. Banerjee said she told Dr. Singh: "The Congress-friendly Communists in West Bengal had unleashed terror in the State." She asked him to "tell them to restrain themselves.'' In reply, Dr. Singh said: "Why don't you join our government and solve all those problems.''

Among the host of issues that Ms. Banerjee raised with the Prime Minister included the fate of 69 NRI medical students whose admission to two State-run hospitals had been stalled by a court verdict.

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