Don’t give aid to Bengal, Mamata tells Centre

NEW DELHI: The feud between resurgent Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee and CPM-led government in West Bengal has escalated , spreading to the issue of central assistance to the state for the damage caused by cyclone Aila.

The Trinamool leader and railway minister plans to ask PM Manmohan Singh not to accept West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee���s demand for Rs 1,000 crore in central assistance to help his state repair the damage caused by cyclone Aila.

Meanwhile, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee held a meeting with the CM in Kolkata, on the cyclone issue. The move follows Bhattacharjee���s letter to the PM on Thursday. Early on, the PM had called up the CM to inquire about the extent of devastation and had promised to help.

Banerjee has justified her plan to try to block the release of grant to Bengal by pointing to what she called shoddy utilisation of annual disaster management funds, as well as by citing history of diversion of funds to CPM cadre.