This refers to the Chinese Whispers item “Mamata’s offensive” (July 23). It seems that West Bengal Chief Minister and the Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is busy making massive political investments on her own behalf in a run up the next Lok Sabha elections. This gains more significance with her party launching a campaign — “Remove BJP, save country” — on August 15 and later organising a mega rally in the state in January 2019 that is expected to be attended by leaders (read: fair weather friends) from across the country. Her proud claim that “they will see Bengal is ready” proves she is showcasing herself as the most deserving prime minister-in-waiting. She should remember she is not alone in the race to grab the most coveted position — that of the nation's next PM — riding on the shoulders of the so-called “United opposition”, a group that comprises the aforesaid “leaders” most of whom are also PM aspirants.
Rahul Gandhi, another PM in waiting, does not fit in in Mamata’s scheme of things. Maybe she does not see a “worthy” role for the largely out of sync Congress party in her long cherished quest to somehow dethrone the incumbent PM. Interestingly, BJP President Amit Shah is also understood to be proactively working on a plan to “remove Mamata, save Bengal” at the first available political opportunity.
S K Gupta, New Delhi
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