Mamata in capital, to attend Inter-State Council meeting

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived here today on her first visit to Delhi after assuming office for a second term and will attend the Inter-State Council meeting, convened by the Prime Minister.
According Trinamool Congress sources, the chief minister is likely to raise the issue of waiver of interest on huge borrowings by the earlier Left Front government.
She is also expected to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase central grants to the state and demand reshaping of the Centre-state tax structure for economic benefit of West Bengal.
Inter-state relations, internal security and economic and social planning will figure in the 11th meeting of the Inter-State Council tomorrow.

Convened after a gap of 10 years, the meeting will also discuss issues concerning reform in school education, direct benefit scheme, Aadhaar card and good governance, among others.
The Prime Minister is the Chairman of the Council in which Chief Ministers of all states and Union Territories are members.
Six Union Ministers -- Rajnath Singh (Home), Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs), Arun Jaitley (Finance), M Venkaiah Naidu (Urban Development), Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport) and Manohar Parrikar (Defence) -- are nominated members of the council. Eleven other Union Ministers are permanent invitees to the Council.