Teesta behind her silence

Although West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee usually speaks to the media, whenever approached, on different issues, it was different during her latest Bangladesh tour.

Not even for once during her 25-hour stay in Dhaka did she speak before any forum or journalists.

And Kolkata-based media outlets and journalists believe the Teesta deal, which could not be signed in four years due to her opposition, was the reason behind her silence.

The pressmen, who accompanied Mamata during the visit, said she looked happy on her way back to Kolkata. With a broad smile on her face, she boarded off her plane at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport and talked to journalists there.

She said how delighted she was at the hospitality Bangladesh offered to her and how significant the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) was.

"There is nothing new to say on the LBA. The enclave people got freedom after a long period of sorrows. The historic land boundary pact opened a new horizon for the people of the enclaves," Mamata was quoted as saying.

But the West Bengal CM did not utter a single word on the Teesta. She skipped talking to journalists throughout her Dhaka tour perhaps only to avoid questions on the issue, Kolkata-based journalists believe.

They said Mamata, a key stakeholder in the Teesta deal, agreed to come to Dhaka with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi only on the assurance that the pact wouldn't be signed and no comments would be made on this.

The Teesta water-sharing agreement was all set to be signed in September 2011 during the then prime minister Manmohan Singh's Dhaka visit. But Mamata's stern opposition put an end to the proceedings.

However, during a visit to Bangladesh in February this year, Mamata assured Hasina of playing "a positive role" in resolving the Teesta issue.

Journalists, who were on Mamata's entourage this time, believe that she had talks with Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the Teesta issue during her stay in Dhaka, but decided not to disclose anything about it to the media.

Citing sources, they said Mamata, during her meeting with Hasina at the Prime Minister's Office in Dhaka, requested her to visit Kolkata to inaugurate a chair named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Kolkata University.

She also told Hasina that the West Bengal government had already allotted land for constructing a museum that too will be named after Bangabandhu.

According the journalists, Mamata is not likely to say anything about the Teesta issue till the West Bengal assembly elections in 2016.

"She does not want to lose votes in North Bengal," said one of the journalists over the phone. The Indian part of the Teesta flows through the region.

"Bangladesh and India have no negative relations. But we cannot accept any one-sided decision because West Bengal's interest is my top priority and there should not be any deal overlooking the interests of North Bengal,” Mamata said.