Mamata Banerjee calls for united Opposition, says easy to defeat BJP if all regional parties come together

By Team Newsable | First Published Dec 1, 2021, 4:17 PM IST

“If all regional parties come together, then it will be easy to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party,” she said during an interaction with civil society members in Mumbai.

Calling for a united front, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that it will be easy to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) if all the regional parties come together. She also said that she had suggested to the Congress that an advisory council comprising prominent personalities from civil society be set up to give a direction to the opposition but ruled that the plan did not materialise.

“If all regional parties come together, then it will be easy to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party,” she said during an interaction with civil society members in Mumbai. She is expected to meet NCP chief Sharad Pawar later today.

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“We want to say BJP hatao, desh bachao,” she said, adding that her party Trinamool Congress (TMC) will not contest the forthcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. “I don't want my opposition to make their own strategy. So, I am not revealing much,” she said.

Also read: Parliament winter session: PM Modi holds high-level talks with senior Cabinet members amid Opposition protest

Banerjee is on a visit to Mumbai where she is meeting top NCP, Shiv Sena leaders. In an indication that the TMC was trying to initiate a national level coalition to defeat the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party government, the TMC chief met Shiv Sena leaders Sanjay Raut and Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday.

After the meeting with Mamata Banerjee, Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray said – “We welcome her to Mumbai and Maharashtra. There has always been a friendship. We had met her even 2-3 years back when she visited Mumbai. We came to carry forward that friendship. We discussed many issues, but we came here to welcome her to Mumbai.”

Her meetings with Opposition leaders come amid a strain in the ties between the TMC and Congress. The Grand Old Party has recently been uncomfortable with the TMC’s expansion drive that has seen it poaching its leaders — from Assam to Goa, Meghalaya to Bihar.

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