Mamata hints at more Opposition parties joining INDIA bloc

New Delhi: Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday indicated that the INDIA bloc could accommodate more Opposition parties, including the DMK, and that the question of who should lead the alliance would be decided collectively.

In her first press conference in Delhi since the West Bengal assembly elections, in which Trinamool Congress lost power to the BJP, Banerjee also demanded the immediate resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that he had worked to “ensure” the BJP’s victory in the state. She said a “change is required in the electoral framework to safeguard democracy”.

She was accompanied by her nephew and TMC Lok Sabha floor leader Abhishek Banerjee.

Banerjee was speaking a day after attending an INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi, in the wake of the Indian Express’ report on the objections raised by the two election commissioners, where Opposition parties discussed their concerns over the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The bloc has since announced a joint campaign against the poll panel and Kumar.

Asked whether parties such as the DMK should join the INDIA bloc, Banerjee said, “These parties have problems at the local level (with the Congress). In some places they are facing elections. But I am in touch with many parties.”

She added, “When the country is facing a crisis, our priority should be to save the country.”

Banerjee said she had a good relationship with Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and had recently met DMK leader Kanimozhi. She also said she had spoken to CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby, a political rival of the Trinamool Congress in Bengal, and that he had sent her a letter that she forwarded to the Congress.

On the leadership of the alliance, Banerjee said, “It has to be decided collectively.”

“INDIA alliance will continue its unity. We will see how far they (BJP) can go,” she added.

Banerjee expressed confidence that the BJP would be removed from power in the 2029 election and said Opposition parties were in touch with the “kids” of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).

Her remarks came a day after she urged INDIA bloc partners not to wait and to begin working on the ground at the earliest. Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi backed the call during the bloc meeting.

Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek, accused Gyanesh Kumar of helping the BJP win West Bengal, describing SIR as “special incentives” for the ruling party.

She further alleged that police stations in the state were functioning like BJP offices and that central paramilitary forces had threatened voters to vote against the TMC. Abhishek claimed that in 150 constituencies, the winning margin was smaller than the number of voters deleted from the electoral rolls.

Adhir asks Mamata to rejoin Congress

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday made a direct pitch to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee to rejoin the Congress along with her remaining MLAs and MPs, saying there would be no objection to her leading the party’s Bengal unit.

He sought to link Banerjee’s recent engagement with the Congress-led INDIA bloc with his call for her return to the party. “As she has taken shelter in the Congress-led INDIA alliance, she should join the party. In Bengal, we would work under you in Congress,” he said.

“There is no need for any separate entity at this moment. Not much is left of the TMC after its defeat in the Assembly elections. We would urge Mamata Banerjee to join the Congress along with all the leftover MLAs and MPs. I will also make this appeal to Congress high command that let her rejoin the party,” he added.

TMC MP Sougata Roy, however, said the party would consider such a proposal only if it came formally from the Congress leadership.

“He (Chowdhury) has said what he felt. We have nothing to say. TMC is a separate party now. If Congress wants to come with an official proposal, we will discuss the matter in the party. The TMC is very much part of the INDIA alliance,” Roy said.