Accusing the BJP of trying to establish a one-party "authoritarian rule’" in the country, West Bengal Chief Minister on Wednesday wrote letters to top Opposition leaders requesting them to unite against the saffron camp to defend democracy.
Her letter came ahead of the second phase of the Assembly elections in West Bengal and it is said to be an initiative to drum up support from opposition leaders against the BJP.
"I strongly believe that that the time has come for a united and effective struggle against the BJP’s attack on democracy and the Constitution. We can win this battle only with the unity of hearts and mind and by presenting a credible alternative to the people of India,’’ she wrote.
In the three-page letter, Mamata appealed to 15 non-BJP leaders including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, NCP supremo Sharad Power, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, DMK chief MK Stalin, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav, Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
The Bengal CM, however, did not write to Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, the former ally of NDA who snapped ties with the BJP in the state Assembly elections in 2018.
Mamata’s letter to Patnaik and Reddy is said to be politically significant despite the two leaders appeared to be ‘’soft’’ to the BJP on several issues in the recent past. They neither supported nor opposed the BJP.
"It seems, Mamata wants to strengthen her concept of grand alliance against the BJP by comprising those who are not openly supporting the BJP,’’ said a senior TMC leader.
Interestingly, the letter to Bhattacharya was also significant as she has repeatedly held the Left Front responsible for BJP’s rise in Bengal.
"The CPI(ML) performed impressively in Bihar Assembly elections. In Bengal, Bhattacharya said the LF should consider the BJP as the prime enemy, instead of the TMC. So, she has decided to welcome in the force against the BJP,’’ said the leader.
"I am writing this letter to convey my serious concerns over a series of assaults by the BJP its government at the Centre on democracy and constitutional federalism in India," Mamata wrote.
She also held the BJP-led Centre accused of misusing central agencies vindictively.
"The BJP government at the Centre has been brazenly and vindictively misusing the BJP, ED and other institutions against leaders and functionaries of non-BJP parties for its own partisan political ends. Both in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where Assembly elections are underway, the Modi government has unleashed the ED to conduct raids on the functionaries of the TMC and DMK," she alleged.
In her letter, Mamata raised the recent passing of the contentious National Capital of Delhi (Amendment) Bill by both houses of Parliament, calling it "an extremely grave development".
"The NCT Bill is a direct attack on the federal structure of the Indian Republic, as enshrined in the Constitution. It also makes a mockery of the letter and spirit of democracy since it disempowers the people of the national capital,’’ the letter read.
"You will agree that what BJP has done in Delhi is not an exception, but is increasingly becoming the rule," wrote Mamata in the letter.
"The Lt Governor has been made the undeclared Viceroy of Delhi, acting as a proxy for the home minister and the prime minister," she said.
The Bengal CM, while addressing a rally in Hooghly, lashed out at the BJP saying, "They have brought outsiders in Nandigram taking advantage of absence of security force personnel to check suspicious movement. Nandigram must go to the polls in a free and fair manner.’’
Banerjee is contesting in Nandigram against her protege-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari, who has challenged her a defeat with a margin of more than 50,000 votes.
(Inputs from Online Desk and ANI)