With her political future hanging in the balance, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday (31 March) wrote letters to top Opposition leaders, giving a call to unite against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Mamata Banerjee writes to leaders incl Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, MK Stalin, Tejashwi Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, Arvind Kejriwal, Naveen Patnaik stating, "I strongly believe that the time has come for a united & effective struggle against BJP's attacks on democracy & Constitution" pic.twitter.com/OLp7tDm9pU
— ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2021
“I am writing this letter…to convey my serious concerns over a series of assaults by the BJP and its government at the Centre on democracy and constitutional federalism in India,” Mamata Banerjee wrote in the three-page letter.
Mamata Banerjee sent the appeal to 15 non-BJP leaders including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, DMK chief MK Stalin, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as well as NC chief Farooq Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.
Claiming that the BJP wants to establish a ‘one-party authoritarian rule’, Mamata Banerjee said, “Overall, the Centre-State relations, and also relations between the ruling party at the Centre and Opposition parties, have never been as bad in the history of independent India as they are now, and the blame for this rests squarely with the Prime Minister’s authoritarian conduct.”
While calling on the Opposition to unite against the BJP, Mamata Banerjee said “I strongly believe that the time has come for a united and effective struggle against the BJP’s attacks on democracy and the Constitution…We can win this battle only with the unity of hearts and minds, and by presenting a credible alternative to the people of India.”
However, the letter sent by Banerjee to all the secular left parties may be too late as the second phase of the election kicks off today. Her own assembly seat of Nandiram may be in jeopardy as she is in a tough fight with her aide-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP.
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