Manmohan Singh cancels Kolkata visit

Kolkata, Jan 20 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has cancelled his visit Wednesday to Kolkata, where he was scheduled to inaugurate the 150-year celebrations of St Xavier's College, an official said Tuesday.

'The prime minister has cancelled his visit to Kolkata. He was supposed to visit the city Wednesday,' Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty told IANS here.

Chakraborty said he is not aware of the reason behind the cancellation.

'I don't know why he cancelled his trip. We were just informed that he is not coming tomorrow (Wednesday). However, I don't think it's for security reasons,' Chakraborty said.

However, a spokesperson of St Xavier's College said Singh cancelled his trip for health reasons.

'We have not received an official fax from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) about the cancellation. But we were told by the PMO that the prime minister won't be able to make it to Kolkata because of health reasons,' said institute spokesperson Abhishek Banerjee.

Singh was to speak to the students of St Xavier's College and school and return to New Delhi the same day.