The initial discomfiture that must have prevailed at the start of a meeting that lasted for 20 minutes at the conference room adjacent to the Prime Minister’s office in the new Parliament building on Wednesday, is likely to have been quickly removed with PM Narendra Modi enquiring about the injury condition in Mamata Banerjee’s knee.

The possible initial unease may have emanated from the fact that a significant section of MPs in Banerjee’s 10-member delegation sitting across the table with the Prime Minister remain suspended from the remaining days of the Parliament’s winter session and also from the fact that the withheld central funds, whose release demand was the stated agenda of the talks, has financially cornered the Mamata Banerjee government leading to more than just heartburns.

But the tone and tenor of the talks, which ended much earlier than its anticipated duration, was possibly set by the Prime Minister with his expression of concern for Banerjee’s knee injury. The Bengal chief minister, of course, assured Modi that she was in better shape now than she was about a couple of months ago.

A Centre-state joint committee to look into Banerjee’s demands to release Rs 1.16 lakh crore, which the chief minister claimed were the state’s current outstanding dues from the Centre, was also reportedly proposed by Modi at the meeting.

“Our poor people are yet to receive their pending wages after working under MGNREGA. For the 2023 cycle, no money was allocated for Bengal. We demanded that money for MGNREGA should be released. Even Awas Yojana and Health Mission funds have been stopped,” Banerjee later told reporters, once out of the meeting.

“As many as 155 teams have visited Bengal and we have given all clarifications but we got nothing. I have even met the PM thrice before,” she continued. “We raised these issues with the PM today and he said a joint meeting will be conducted between the officers of the Centre and the State. If any clarification is required, we will give it again despite giving it 155 times before.”

“Two officers from the state and Centre will sit and find a solution. They can decide the formula in accordance with the federal structure,” the Trinamul chief added.

“I would also like to flag another disturbing and unwelcome development which is against the grain of federal structure and spirit of centre-state collaboration,” Banerjee alleged in a letter she handed over to Modi during the meeting.

“Many of the ministries of the Government of India have made use of unilaterally decided name, logo and the colour of the scheme and buildings mandatory, for Centrally-sponsored schemes as a condition of release of funds,” the letter read.

“,,, most of the centrally sponsored schemes have a substantial state share and the implementation of these schemes is entirely done by the state administration...,” Banerjee went on to add.

“As chief minister of an important state and in that capacity, you had fought for the rights of the state and its people in our federal structure. States have a very important role to play in the development of this great country. Any step taken unilaterally by the Centre which undermines the position of the state or the sentiments and self-respect of its people, will only weaken this country. We cannot and should not allow people of any state suffer for whatever reasons,” Banerjee’s fervent tone in her memorandum was hard to miss.

Later she told reporters: “The Prime Minister has attentively heard our points and has assured us that he would look into them.”