NEW DELHI, June 11: In a bid to bring the non-BJP parties together in view of the coming Presidential elections, the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday invited all the opposition leaders and chief ministers for a meeting on June 15 to discuss strategies keeping the presidential election on July 18 in mind. The meeting will be held at the Constitution Club in New Delhi.
According to Trinamool Congress (TMC) sources, Banerjee has shot off a letter to the major Opposition parties, including Left parties, and all non-BJP Chief Ministers of the country.
According to a statement issued by the TMC, “With the Presidential election around the corner, Hon’ble CM of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, with an initiative of strong and effective opposition against the divisive forces, has reached out to the Opposition CMs and leaders to participate in a joint meeting at the Constitution Club (New Delhi) on June 15th (Wednesday) from 3 PM.”
Banerjee is learnt to have send the letter to the chief ministers of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, of Odisha Naveen Patnaik, of Telangana Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, of Tamil Nadu Thiru M K Stalin, of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray, of Jharkhand Hemant Soren, of Punjab Bhagwant Singh Mann, as well as the presidents of the Congress Sonia Gandhi, of the Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Yadav, of RJD Lalu Prasad Yadav, of Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav, of RLD Jayant Chaudhary, of National Congress Farooq Abdullah, of PDP Mehbooba Mufti, of Shiromani Akali Dl Sukhbir Singh Badal, of Sikkim Democratic Font Pawan Chamling, of IUML K M Kader Mohideen, as well as general secretary of CPI D Raja, of CPM Sitaram Yechury, JD(S) Leaders H D Kumaraswamy and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.
In the letter, Mamata Banerjee said, “A nation with a robust democratic character requires a strong and effective opposition. All progressive forces in this country need to remain aligned and resist the divisive force that is plaguing us today. Opposition leaders are being deliberately targeted by different Central agencies, the country’s image is maligned internationally and bitter dissensions are created within. It is time we strengthen our resistance.”
She further wrote, “The Presidential elections are around the corner, presenting the perfect opportunity for all progressive opposition parties to reconvene and deliberate on the future course of Indian politics. The election is monumental because it gives legislators the opportunity to participate in deciding the Head of our State who is the custodian of our democracy. At a time when our democracy is going through troubling times, I believe that a fruitful confluence of opposition voices is the need of the hour; to echo the deprived and unrepresented communities.”
(Manas Dasgupta)
