Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee to meet senior BJP leaders in Delhi tomorrow

SILIGURI: After meeting various opposition leaders here to discuss prospects of forming a third front, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she would also meet senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Shatrughan Sinha tomorrow.

“Yes, Sonia (Gandhi) ji is unwell right now and recovering, will meet her once she is fine. Tomorrow will meet Shatrughan Sinha ji,Yashwant Sinha ji, and Arun Shourie ji,” Banerjee told reporters here.

The three senior BJP leaders, on more than one occasion, have expressed their displeasure with some of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s decisions.

“Will certainly go meet if they (Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav) call us for a meeting to Lucknow,” Banerjee said, who is on a four-day visit to Delhi, to form a common front against the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of 2019 general elections.

Earlier in the day, Banerjee met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. She also met Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut. Notably, BJP's embittered ally in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena has announced to break the alliance before the general elections 2019.

Although Banerjee is also scheduled to attend a dinner meet hosted by Pawar, the latter had brushed off such reports earlier in the day saying, "There is no meeting, there is no dinner."