New Delhi, Sept. 13: Not only some industry captains but even friends of the state’s Marxist rulers appear to be shying away from Bengal.

Nepal’s Maoist Prime Minister, Prachanda, will skip Calcutta and fly to Bangalore during his first visit to India starting tomorrow.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had been the first Indian leader to invite Prachanda, in May, after the Maoist chief’s poll victory. Prachanda had accepted the invitation, forwarded through Sitaram Yechury in Nepal, but no date was fixed.

“The invitation stands. But the programmes of visiting dignitaries are finalised by the Centre,” Yechury said. Prachanda, however, will be meeting Yechury, who played an important role in the Nepal Maoists joining the democratic mainstream, on September 16.

The five-day visit that ends on September 18 is Prachanda’s first “official” foreign trip as Prime Minister. In Delhi, where he is to arrive at 7.30pm tomorrow, he will be meeting President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Sonia Gandhi and L.K. Advani besides Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

He will also attend a busi- ness lunch organised by three industry bodies: CII, Ficci and Assocham.

The Nepal Prime Minister has reserved one day, September 17, for his Bangalore trip, which includes a visit to IT major Infosys. He and his team of ministers will meet several industry bigwigs in India’s IT capital.