Mamata Banerjee calls up DMK's Stalin on Third front, hopes to build regional bloc in Lok Sabha

KOLKATA: Two days after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao floated the idea of a third front to counter the BJP and Congress, his counterpart in Bengal and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee appeared to have internalised it big time, as she called up DMK working president M K Stalin, urging him to join in and add heft.

In her 12-minute conversation with Stalin late on Sunday, she expressed confidence that his party would perform well in the 2019 polls. According to Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien, Mamata told Stalin a good performance by regional parties would create a powerful bloc of 75 MPs in the Lok Sabha.