COVID-19, vaccines and rechristening of West Bengal were discussed during a meeting between state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee  and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday. This is Banerjee’s first meeting with the PM since she stormed to power in a third straight term earlier this year 

“It was a courtesy meeting with PM today. During the meeting, I raised the issue of COVID and need for more vaccines and medicines in the state. I also raised the pending issue of the change of name of the state. On this issue, he said, ‘He will see,'” Banerjee said after the meeting, reports ANI.

The West Bengal government has been demanding that the state be renamed Bangla, a proposal that was rejected by the Centre in 2019.   

Analysts see Mamata Banerjee’s trip to the Capital as a move to position herself as the leader of the combined Opposition. Fresh from her euphoric victory over the BJP in recently-held Assembly elections. Banerjee has already held a series of meetings with other prominent Opposition leaders, including the Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar.   

Also read: In Mamata Banerjee’s Pegasus probe panel, a ‘wake up’ call for Opposition?

Amid this Opposition unity talk, Banerjee also met senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Anand Sharma. She is expected to meet party president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday. During the meeting, Sharma is reported to have told her that there cannot be a non-BJP front without the Congress as it is a national political party with a pan-India presence, reports PTI.

On the Pegasus spying row, Banerjee said that the PM should call an all-party meeting . “There should be a Supreme Court-monitored probe in this matter,” she added.

Banerjee’s meeting with PM Modi comes amid a controversy over the alleged Pegasus spying row that has brought the Opposition on a common plank. Mamata Banerjee took the lead in countering the government when she ordered a probe by former high court and Supreme Court judges, saying the move will ‘awaken others’.

The probe panel move is also being seen as an attempt by her to force the Centre’s hand to order a wider probe as the potential targets in the list include people from several states.

A consortium of international media websites have reported that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders and one sitting judge apart from many businesspersons and activists in India could have been hacked through the spyware.

According to reports, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, a nephew of Mamata Banerjee, and poll strategist Prashant Kishor were among the potential targets of the spyware. Even union ministers, according to allegations, were under watch.