NEW DELHI: Reacting to Trinamool Congress leaders allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking only to the West Bengal governor about the post-cyclone Fani situation in the state, PMO sources on Sunday said two attempts were made to contact chief minister Mamata Banerjee and on both occasions, it was said that the CM was on tour and would return the call.

"Some Trinamool leaders have claimed that the Prime Minister had called up Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik but did not phone West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. The claim is incorrect," a PMO source said.

The PMO official said two attempts were made on Saturday morning, by the PM's staff, to connect Modi to the West Bengal chief minister on phone.

"The first time, the staff attempting to place the call were told that the West Bengal CM was on tour, and the call will be returned. On the second occasion too, the staff was told by the CM's office that the call will be returned," the PMO official said Trinamool Congress on Saturday hit out at Modi for calling West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi instead of talking to Banerjee to enquire about the situation in the wake of cyclone Fani , and alleged that Modi didn't respect the federal structure of the country.

"We have no problem that the PM called the governor to enquire about the ground situation. But only the chief minister and state government officials can give him the real picture at ground level," a senior TMC leader said.



In Video: Cyclone Fani: Called Mamata Banerjee twice, but she didn’t respond, says PM Modi at a rally in Bengal