West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to visit the national capital to meet the opposition parties over the alleged misuse of central agencies against them
Our Bureau
Kolkata/New Delhi
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here in an indication of an emerging front that is opposed to the BJP but would not align with the Congress at the state level.
Akhilesh Yadav said that Chief Ministers of many states are trying for an alliance that will work together for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the name shall be decided later. Akhilesh Yadav said Congress should decide its role. “Congress should decide its role regarding elections. CMs of many states are trying for a coalition that will work together. Telangana CM KCR is trying, Stalin is trying, Bihar CM and Mamata Banerjee are also there. The name will be discussed later for the coalition,” Yadav said.
“I hope that the efforts are successful. This will be taken up in the meeting tomorrow. All the leaders will present their views and suggestions,” he added. Samajwadi Party said in a tweet that Akhilesh Yadav paid a “courtesy visit” to Mamata Banerjee and was accompanied by senior leaders of the party.
Answering a question on third front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, he said the main question is problems like unemployment and inflation. “For 2024, you may call it the third front or an alliance, but this is not the question. The main issue is inflation. The youth are roaming around without jobs. The farmers’ lives have been destroyed. They (BJP) are showing dreams…but when will the youth get jobs?”
“For instance, in UP, they are showing that MoUs have been done. The government in Delhi is supporting and helping Uttar Pradesh but work cannot be seen on the ground. If a state like UP is not getting appropriate investments and the government is not making capital investments, then what is the growth? BJP does not have answers to all these questions,” he alleged.
Yadav earlier attacked the BJP over “unemployment and price rise” and alleged there is no action by probe agencies against those who join the ruling party at the Centre.
Addressing a workers meeting, Yadav also congratulated the people of West Bengal for defeating BJP and voting Trinamool Congress back to power in the last assembly polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to visit the national capital to meet the opposition parties over the alleged misuse of central agencies against them.
However, the sources stated that the TMC chief meeting with the Congress leaders is unlikely. “Those that the TMC chief is likely to meet when in the national capital include the political parties who issued a jointly signed letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the opposition being at the receiving end of the Central agencies,” sources said.
However, there were no representations from Congress, JDS, JD(U), and CPI(M) in the letter. Several opposition leaders including Lalu Prasad Yadav and K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha are facing inquiries at the hands of these agencies and two ministers of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia are currently lodged in jail.
The last time that Mamata Banerjee came to the national capital was during the G20 meeting called by the Centre of presidents of all political parties.
Earlier on March 5, in an attempt to echo the Opposition’s voice in unison, nine leaders of eight political parties wrote to PM Modi on the arrest of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case, and alleged that the “misuse” of the central agencies suggests that the country has “transitioned from being a democracy to an autocracy”.
“We hope you would agree that India is still a democratic country. The blatant misuse of central agencies against the members of the opposition appears to suggest that we have transitioned from being a democracy to an autocracy,” the leaders wrote.
