Mamata Banerjee refuses to go to Dhaka with PM Manmohan Singh

NEW DELHI: In what could be a setback for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's upcoming Bangladesh visit on September 6-7, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has refused to accompany him to Dhaka.

Banerjee is upset with the Teesta water sharing treaty the two countries are about to sign, as she feels the agreement will go against the interests of West Bengal.

The CM, it is learnt, has objected to the fact that there was a difference in the quantity of water sharing according to the draft and the final versions of the Teesta treaty. Far more water was being conceded to Bangladesh, Banerjee feels, than she had agreed to. Agitations against the treaty have already started in the north Bengal districts of West Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar.

The Centre's move to go ahead with treaties with Bangladesh without consulting the West Bengal government has irked chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Since most of the border and water settlements that India and Bangladesh are preparing to resolve impacts West Bengal directly, it is important that the state's chief minister is taken into confidence while striking a deal with Dhaka.

When the Ganga water treaty was signed with Bangladesh, the then chief minister Jyoti Basu was consulted while working out the details.

Banerjee had objected to the fact that the Centre went ahead with treaties with Bangladesh without consulting her even as the state is the most affected when it comes to border and water issues between the two neighbours.

At a CCPA meeting last week to discuss Bangladesh, railway minister Dinesh Trivedi had raised the issue, after which the Centre deputed national security advisor Shiv Shankar Menon to Kolkata to update Banerjee of the treaties that were being worked out.

And it was decided that she would join the PM in Dhaka for his two-day trip that is expected to resolve some longstanding issues between the two countries. Six other CMs are scheduled to travel with the PM to Dhaka.