PM expresses regret to Mamata for Left protest

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed regret over the protest faced by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Left activists outside the Planning Commission's office in New Delhi.

Singh spoke to Banerjee after her office called up the PMO to cancel the meeting scheduled with him Tuesday evening, sources close to the chief minister said on Wednesday.

The West Bengal chief minister had sought cancellation of the meeting, saying she was unwell and her blood pressure had dipped.

Banerjee and her Finance Minister Amit Mitra were the target of the ire of Communist Party of India-Marxist and its students' wing activists yesterday with protesters manhandling the minister outside the Planning Commission in New Delhi.

Protesters from CPI-M and SFI ambushed the chief minister and other ministers, including Mitra, when they arrived at the Planing Commission complex for annual state plan discussion.

While the chief minister was shielded by policemen, it was left to Mitra's lot to face the anger of the activists who were protesting the death of SFI member Sudipto Gupta in police custody in Kolkata last week.

The 65-year-old finance minister was pushed and jostled around as he tried to enter the Yojna Bhawan building. A woman protester thumped him twice on his chest and his kurta was torn in the melee.