Nancy Powell meets WB governor, doesn't meet Mamata

Kolkata: US Ambassador Nancy Powell today met West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan, but did not have an interaction with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as was being speculated. The US envoy was with the governor for 45 minutes, a Raj Bhavan source said without, however, sharing the details of the meeting. [caption id=“attachment_1402731” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nancy Powell. Reuters[/caption] Banerjee scotched any speculation about the meeting when she told journalists waiting since morning at the state secretariat that, “In my appointment card, there is nothing of the sort (meeting with Powell)”. “It’s a problem that you make such news,” said a visibly annoyed Banerjee. The official website of Trinamool Congress had on February 14 announced that, “The US Ambassador to India, Nancy Powell, has sought a meeting with the West Bengal CM. “A letter in this connection from her office has reached Nabanna, the state secretariat. West Bengal government has sought a formal clearance from the Union Ministry of External Affairs. The meeting may be scheduled for February 21 or 22.” Powell had met Banerjee in September, 2012, and discussed possible US investments, among other things. In May of the same year, the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, too, had met Banerjee. PTI