KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday wrote a letter to 14 leaders of non-BJP parties, including six chief ministers, urging them to chart a “plan of action” after the assembly polls to thwart attempts by BJP to dilute state governments “to municipalities” and establish a “one-party authoritarian rule in India”. The CM wrote that BJP does not want other parties to exist.
“The enactment of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill by the two Houses of Parliament is a grave development as it is aimed at snatching away all the powers of a democratically elected government of Delhi vesting power in the hand of the Lt Governor, a nominee of the Centre, to act in proxy,” the CM wrote.
The CM described the new enactment as a mockery of democracy as it disempowers the people of the NCT. “It violated a Supreme Court verdict of 2018, which upheld the pre-eminence of Delhi’s elected government in all matters other than police, public order and land,” the CM wrote.
She also wrote: “The BJP led Centre has been vindictively misusing CBI, ED and other institutions against leaders and functionaries of non-BJP parties for its political gains.”
Banerjee lashed out at the Centre for disbanding the National Development Council, the Inter-State Council and the Planning Commission. She also questioned the Centre’s policy of “reckless and wholesale” privatisation of the nation’s assets.
Banerjee has written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP president Sharad Pawar, DMK leader M K Stalin, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, chief ministers Uddhav Thackeray, Hemant Soren, Arvind Kejriwal, Naveen Patnaik, Jagan Reddy, K S Reddy, Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and Leftist leader Dipankar Bhattacharya.