Mamata Banerjee criticises Rajnath Singh's meet with GJM leader Roshan Giri

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday slammed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for meeting Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader Roshan Giri who has been slapped with a lookout notice.

"I know that a lookout notice was issued against him. When such a notice is slapped against someone, generally it (meeting the person) should not be done. It (Home Minister) is a constitutional and an important post. They are doing what they feel is right. If I were in that place, I would not have done so," Banerjee said at the state secretariat.

A small GJM delegation on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi and raised the issue of Gorkhaland and the need for a "tripartite dialogue" to resolve the long-pending demands of the Gorkhas.

The six-member delegation, led by GJM leader Swaraj Thapa, held a 30-minute meeting with Rajnath Singh at his residence on Tuesday in which Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Union Minister S S Ahluwalia, who is an MP from Darjeeling, were reportedly present.

"In the meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the GJM delegation raised the issue of Gorkhaland and the need for a tripartite dialogue to resolve the long-pending demands of the Gorkhas," a GJM statement said.

The GJM members, including Roshan Giri, Thapa, D K Pradhan, Tilak Chand Roka and P T Ola, also sought immediate central government`s intervention to end the 96-day indefinite strike.