New Delhi:
Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday met Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata where she is recuperating after a car accident she had recently.
Pranab says the visit was just a courtesy call and that he hopes Mamata will recover soon and attend the monsoon session of Parliament.
It is not clear whether Pranab brought up the issue of Mamata's controversial comments on the death of the Maoist leader Azad during her rally in Lalgarh in Bengal.
At a rally in West Bengal's Lalgarh on August 9, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had said that the way Maoist leader Azad was killed was not right and asked for a probe into his death. (
Read: Mamata: Way Maoist leader Azad was killed not right)
C Rajakumar alias Azad was killed in an encounter by state police in Andhra Pradesh on July 2. Following his death, Maoist sympathisers had filed a petition in the High court alleging that he was killed in a fake encounter.
Banerjee's rally at Lalgarh had rocked Parliament on Monday too with an aggressive BJP and the Left joining hands to target the Trinamool Congress and seeking to embarrass the Centre over the Railway Minister's alleged hobnobbing with Maoists. (
Read: BJP slams Govt in Rajya Sabha over Mamata's Lalgarh rally)
The BJP wanted suspension of Question Hour. It also wanted a statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Banerjee's rally on Monday where she allegedly supported Maoists and said the way Maoist leader Azad was killed was not right and asked for a probe into his death.
Mamata Banerjee's controversial rally at Lalgarh figured in the Rajya Sabha too on Wednesday with a BJP member asking Home Minister P Chidambaram if the government would take action against a leader who supports the Maoists. Chidambaram clarified in the House that no one from government should back Maoists.
Chidambaram said, "To a question that is framed in such a general manner, the answer can also be in a general manner. No-one should support the CPI (Maoist) and the government would certainly not encourage anyone to support the CPI (Maoist)." (
Read: No one from govt should back Maoists: Chidambaram)