NEW DELHI: At a time when Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress party (TMC) is caught up in a pitched battle with the BJP over the upcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal, the state chief minister will be face to face with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on May 2, when she is scheduled to attend a meeting chaired by him, of the National Committee that has been set up to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The official celebrations will be held across the country and abroad for a year from October 2, 2019 to October 2, 2020, to propagate the message of the Mahatma. The national committee that was constituted with Prime Minister as its head, in October 2017, includes chief ministers of all states, representatives from across the political spectrum, Gandhians, thinkers, and eminent persons from all walks of life. The mandate of the committee is to approve policies, programmes and activities for the commemoration and supervise implementation of such decisions.
As a member of the committee, Banerjee will be attending the meeting on Wednesday, it is learnt. But, it is not known whether other non-BJP or non-NDA chief ministers will be present even as invitations have gone out to them, to help plan the celebrations.
There is no confirmation yet on Telengana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu or any of the other non-NDA chief ministers attending the meeting. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah’s presence is ruled out as he is busy leading the Congress charge for his state elections slated for May 12.
Banerjee will be attending the meeting chaired by Modi, at a time when she has been vehemently attacking the Centre and the BJP in Bengal as well as at the national level, while working actively along with other Opposition parties to form a federal front against the Modi-Amit Shah regime, in a run up to the 2019 general elections.
While she has been critical of moves like the impeachment of CJI, initiated by Congress, led by its new president Rahul Gandhi, she met former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during her last visit to the capital almost a month back and has asked Congress to be part of the federal front and cautioned the national party against trying to lead it.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are expected to attend the May 2, meeting to plan the grand
Gandhi Jayanti next year.
Banerjee will arrive in Delhi on May 1 and return to Kolkata on May 3 and hence it is likely that she will be meeting other leaders during her stay here. The TDP chief has been keeping in close touch with other opposition leaders who are part of the anti-BJP and anti-Modi forces.