0
Comment(s)
*
* The moderation of comments is automated and not cleared manually by indianexpress.com.
CM Mamata Banerjee met PM Narendra Modi at his residence in Lok Kalyan Marg, Delhi. (ANI) On her first visit to Delhi after the TMC’s resounding victory in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in Lok Kalyan Marg. Earlier in the day, she met Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Anand Sharma amid several signals of increasing Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Calling it a “courtesy meet”, Banerjee said that she discussed the Covid crisis with PM Modi and raised the need for more vaccines and medicines in West Bengal.
“I also raised the pending issue of the change of name of the state. On this issue, he said, ‘he will see,'” Banerjee was quoted as saying by ANI. Post the meeting, the TMC chief also said that PM Modi should call for an all-party meeting on the Pegasus row.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee with Congress leader Kamal Nath. (ANI)
Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said he is likely to meet Banerjee on Wednesday. News agency ANI also reported that she will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence in Janpath on the same day. She is also expected to meet President Ram Nath Kovind.
The visit comes also at a time when Parliament is in session. Banerjee has said that she intends to spend some time in Parliament and meet Opposition leaders.
Last week, on the Trinamool’s annual Martyrs Day celebration, a bevy of Opposition leaders came to pay their respects including P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh of the Congress, Sharad Pawar, who Banerjee mentioned repeatedly, and Supriya Sule of the NCP, Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Manoj Jha of the RJD, Tiruchi Siva of the DMK and Priyanka Chaturvedi from the Shiv Sena.
Banerjee meets Congress leader Anand Sharma in Delhi. (ANI)
A senior Trinamool leader said that while the meetings with the President and PM were formalities, Banerjee’s visit this time was planned with a larger Opposition plan in mind ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha challenge. “I think it is clear to everyone in the opposition that 2024 is a very crucial election, and there is a big challenge. It is also a good sign that seriousness has set in now, when there is time to fight, and fall out, and come together; iron out the chinks as they say. With her decisive win of Narendra Modi, Banerjee will have a big role to play,” a leader had said.
In Parliament, Opposition parties have been protesting the recent allegations of snooping by the Union Government through the Israeli spyware Pegasus, resulting in adjournment of both the Houses multiple times. While TMC MP Shantanu Sen was suspended for tearing up IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s denial statement, Opposition leaders are demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the allegations.
Moreover, the Opposition has also been raising its voice over the farmers’ protest against the three contentious farm laws.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd