Headlines
Rajnath says border visit not political, calls Mamata a friend
Kolkata, April 1
A day after West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee questioned the motive behind it, union Home
Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said his tour of border enclaves in
the state was not a political one.
Claiming that her government
was not informed about Singh's two-day visit, a miffed Banerjee had on
Tuesday slammed the BJP-led central government.
"Is it an
official visit or a political visit," Banerjee had asked, claiming that
no prior discussion or consultation was done with her government about
Singh's trip.
Singh asserted that his was an official visit and claimed that Banerjee too was an old friend.
"No, it's not a political visit. I feel there should not be any confusion regarding this," Singh told mediapersons.
"The
(home) ministry has certain defined works to carry out and I am here to
do that," said Singh during his visit to a floating border outpost in
the Sundarbans in North 24 Parganas district.
"Mamata Banerjee is
an old friend and I respect her a lot. We share a cordial relation and I
feel there should not be any misconception regarding this," added Singh
who during the day visited Angrail border outpost in the district and
also inspected a stretch of riverine border on the Icchamati river.
Besides
holding talks with officers of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Singh on Tuesday visited a Bangladeshi
enclave in Balapukhri in Cooch Behar district taking stock of the ground
reality in the area ahead of the implementation of the Land Boundary
Agreement with Bangladesh.