CM jibe at Rajnath on Giri meet

TT, Sept. 20: Mamata Banerjee today suggested that Union home minister Rajnath Singh shouldn't have met Gorkha Janmukti Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri as a lookout notice had been issued against the hill leader.

"I know there is a lookout notice against him. The Union minister's post is constitutional. If I was there (in that position), I would not have met him (Giri)," the chief minister said at Nabanna today.

She was replying to a question on the meeting between Rajnath and Giri in Delhi yesterday.

Asked why Bengal police were not arresting Giri, Mamata said: "When police get him, he will be arrested."

In Siliguri, state tourism minister Gautam Deb today said the meeting between Giri and Rajnath proved that the BJP was backing the ongoing agitation. "It is unfortunate that the Union home minister had a meeting with a person (Giri), who is booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and against whom a lookout notice has been issued. It clearly indicates the BJP is supporting the ongoing movement in the hills," Deb said.