Mamata Banerjee to rally Opposition leaders for show of unity in Kolkata

Mamata is scheduled to visit Parliament on Wednesday and meet leaders of various parties. She will hold talks with several leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India secretary-general Rev. Theodore Mascarenhas in New Delhi on Tuesday | (Parveen Negi | EPS)

NEW DELHI: In Delhi to try and stitch an alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the collective leadership of Opposition parties would take on the BJP.

Mamata is scheduled to visit Parliament on Wednesday and meet leaders of various parties. She will hold talks with several leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

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Mamata, who is in the national capital on a three-day visit, will invite the Opposition leaders to a rally in Kolkata on January 19 that is being planned as the Opposition’s mega show of unity.

“There will be a collective leadership to take on BJP in the coming Lok Sabha polls in 2019. I will meet all the Opposition leaders and invite them for the rally,” she told reporters.

The TMC chief met disgruntled BJP leaders Shatrughan Sinha, Yashwant Sinha and Ram Jethmalani on Tuesday. “I invited them to participate in the rally in Kolkata. The people who fight against the ruling party win,” she said.

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Mamata, who has taken a lead in formation of a federal front to take on the BJP, said India needed a change and that change must happen in 2019 for the betterment of the country and the people. Mamata is seen as one of the main contenders for the PM’s post and has been reaching out to regional parties to consolidate her position.

“I will never allow a divided motherland. They (BJP) should remember that they were not there a few years back and they will not be there in the coming year, too. This is not Indian politics; Indian politics is about tolerance,” she said.