Picked TMC parliamentary party chief, Didi in national arena

NEW DELHI: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee stepped into the national political scape with Trinamool Congress MPs unanimously choosing her as chairperson of the parliamentary party at a meeting here on Friday.
In her new role, Banerjee, who is not a member of any of the Houses of Parliament, will guide her party’s course in Parliament to take on the Modi government at the Centre. The move is meant to create a formal role for the TMC chief in national politics a she emerged as a formidable opposition leader with her thumping win in Bengal polls, said a TMC member.
With Mamata heading the parliamentary party, TMC hopes to be more aggressive and proactive. “Our party’s expansion plans to other states will also need Banerjee to be at the helm at the national level. The TMC parliamentary party will get its institutional status with Banerjee as the chairperson,” said party MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy. Banerjee is expected to arrive in the capital on July 26 and spend at least four days. While she will make her courtesy calls to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she will meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and a number of other opposition leaders.