West Bengal to skip PM Modi's meeting with Chief Ministers on COVID-19 situation

West Bengal will not participate in the virtual meeting to be held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with chief ministers on Tuesday (June 16) and Wednesday (June 17) on ways to check the spread of the virus as India exits the lockdown. The Prime Minister is expected to seek suggestions from the chief ministers and draw up a common strategy in deciding the future course of action to deal with the strategy.  

The meeting will continue for two days in which Chief Ministers of 36 states were to participate but now only 13 of them have been allowed to speak. This could possibly be the reason why West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee will not be present in this meeting and the presence of the Chief Secretary is least likely.

The two-day virtual meet comes against the backdrop of a rising number of coronavirus cases in the country. This would be the PM Modi's sixth round of consultation with the chief ministers, the last being on May 11.

On Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a video-conference with Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of 21 states and Union territories. These include Punjab, Kerala, Goa, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, the northeastern states, and some Union Territories.

A day later on Wednesday, the Prime Minister will interact with Chief Ministers of 15 states, some bring worst-hit by the infection, and the LG of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. These include high caseload states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 3,43,091 including 153,178 active cases, 180,012 recovered cases, and 9,900 deaths as per the Union Health Ministry data.