Who will contest for the Prime Minister’s post from the United Alliance? Is it Congress President Rahul Gandhi or West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee aka Didi?
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said there is no scramble for the ‘PM chair’ among opposition parties and that the nominee for the top job would be collectively decided after the 2019 parliamentary polls.
The West Bengal chief minister, who is on a visit to the capital as part of her efforts to galvanize the opposition parties, met Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former party chief Sonia Gandhi and invited them to attend a joint mega rally on January 19 in Kolkata. She said the opposition parties are working together to defeat BJP in the next elections.
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“It was a political discussion on how we can work together,” Banerjee told reporters after the meeting, clearly indicating that TMC and Congress will be working in tandem.
Banerjee’s meeting with the top Congress leaders came after her day-long interactions separately with a host of opposition party leaders in Parliament House. Congress leaders Gulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel also met Banerjee before her meeting with Sonia and Rahul.
Making it clear that she was not vying for the post of Prime Minister, the TMC chief said BJP’s desperate bid to create a divide among opposition parties will not yield any result. “We want to see to it that all opposition parties work together… ‘do hazaar unnis, BJP finish’ (BJP will be finished in 2019). If their strategy is to divide us, our strategy is to remain together,” Banerjee said.
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On repeated questions on who will be the PM candidate for the combined opposition and whether she could emerge as the collective choice, the TMC chief said, “I am not for any post. I am interested in seeing that all parties work together. All parties will sit together and decide, after defeating BJP.”
Mamata met leaders of various parties including TDP, YSR (Congress), DMK, RJD, SP and JD(S) and invited them for her January 19 rally. She also met AIADMK leader Thambidurai and JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also called on her. Even Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut called on her. In a surprise move, Banerjee met veteran BJP leader L K Advani in his chamber for half an hour.
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