Trinamool Congress chief meets Rahul and Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath, says she harbours no PM ambitions.
New Delhi: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday denied harbouring Prime Ministerial ambitions, ending her studied silence on the Congress declaring Rahul Gandhi as its PM candidate. Instead, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief, who met the Congress president and his mother, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in the evening, said they had discussed how the two parties would defeat the BJP.
“We discussed how to fight together to stop the BJP in 2019. I share very good relations with Soniaji since the time Rajivji was around. Whenever I come to Delhi, I meet her. Since we are two political parties, we discussed some political issues,” Mamata said, after meeting the Congress leaders at their official 10 Janpath residence.
The TMC chief, who has been rallying anti-BJP forces to forge a ‘federal front’, also touched upon the one seat, one candidate formula to defeat the BJP, proposed by former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha.
“Whichever party is strong in one particular region should put up a candidate against the BJP… As far as West Bengal is concerned, we can fight with 500 parties like the BJP. But we will have to see the national picture,” she said.
She reiterated that she was not eyeing the PM post. “In an alliance all are leaders and the question of leadership will be decided later. I am not eyeing the PM post,” she said.
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In the two days that she has been in the national capital, Mamata has met opposition leaders Sharad Pawar, H.D. Deve Gowda and Arvind Kejriwal. She also met former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha Tuesday.
She has extended invites to the leaders to join her rally on 19 January next year in Kolkata.
‘Urged to tone down NRC rhetoric’
Earlier in the day, senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Ghulam Nabi Azad had met Mamata in Parliament. Sources told ThePrint that Congress leaders had requested Mamata to tone down her rhetoric on the NRC issue.
The West Bengal chief minister had Tuesday said that the final NRC draft would result in a civil war. After meeting the Congress leaders, however, she blamed the BJP for the uncertainty over the exercise.
“It is the BJP that is trying to create a civil war. I am not their servant to react to whatever they say. The 40 lakh people who have been left out of the NRC are from Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other states too. Where will they go,” she said.
After meeting Mamata, Ahmed Patel had met Congress president Rahul Gandhi and briefed him about the meeting.
Congress is satisfied after Mamata has also clarified that she is not in the PM race. Both parties have been trying to project that the leadership is not an issue.
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1. I can understand why Smt Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress chief and chief minister of West Bengal and many other politicians are harsh critics of NDA government and PM Narendra Modi. I can also understand if regional parties wish to defeat BJP and for this purpose they all wish to form a Federal or Third Front. However, I guess without other regional parties’ consent, Congress cannot become a part of such Front. 2. As a citizen-voter I am not convinced that after 2019 Lok Sabha election, alliance government, mainly of regional parties (as Congress participation in such a government is uncertain), would be in a position to provide good governance and manage our country’s economy in a better way. 3. Reality is that regional parties have no national economic or political agenda. They have no common programme to deal with many issues. In fact, politicians like Smt Banerjee, Smt Mayawati and other leaders of regional parties have always a limited objective-to remain in power in their respective State (West Bengal, or whichever it is). 4. As a citizen-voter I wish to know what the Third l Front of regional parties would like to do to deal with issues like (a) economy’s current problems like inflation and unsatisfactory industrial production growth (b) farmers’ problems which lead to their suicides and agitations (c) creation of jobs in rural & urban areas (d) problems of public sector banks and other government undertakings like Air India (e) existing deficiencies in GST and how to rectify them, etc. 4. I think the Third Front leaders, whenever the front is formed, should come out with a comprehensive document, sort of White Paper (WP). The WP should be released, if not in 2018, at least well before next year’s Lok Sabha election so that voters would get time to study WP and then respond suitably.
Had Didi not been driven out of the party, the Congress could have had its cake and eaten it too.