CPI(M) rejects report of Tripura CM inviting Modi to address state cabinet

CM Manik Sarkar clarified he and his cabinet ministers would be meeting the PM at the state guest house and discuss issues pertaining to the state

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), on Monday rejected a report its Tripura chief minister, Manik Sarkar, had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address his Cabinet on governance.

General-Secretary Prakash Karat told Business Standard it was "wrong information" and the minister and his Cabinet would be giving Modi a memorandum. Tripura has been protesting against the 50 per cent cut in its Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) funds.

Modi is visiting the state to inaugurate Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)'s power plant. Sarkar and his Cabinet minister Manik Dey shared the stage with him on Monday.  

Sarkar said he and his Cabinet ministers would be meeting Modi at a state guest house. He said they would file a memorandum and discuss state issues with him.

CPI(M) said a similar meeting had taken place when former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited Tripura. The location was the Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the Governor.

CPI(M) has traditionally opposed Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.

Sarkar met Modi on November 26 here. Then he raised the issue of the slashing of the MGNREGS funds and addressed a party rally on the matter. The leader said Tripura had generated the most man-days under the scheme.

"Why should Sarkar have to learn good governance from Modi?" questioned a CPI(M) leader.