Mamata Banerjee Meets Lalu Yadav Before Opposition Gathering, Vows a United Fight

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee visited Patna on Wednesday, where she met with RJD supremo Lalu Yadav and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav ahead of a mega Opposition meeting. Banerjee expressed her satisfaction with Lalu Yadav's good health and stated that the opposition parties would unite and fight together like a family.

The meeting in Patna, called by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United), is set to be attended by opposition leaders from nearly 20 parties. Their objective is to devise a joint strategy to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Mamata Banerjee arrived in Patna accompanied by her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee to participate in the meeting.

Prior to her departure from Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee emphasized the importance of defeating the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls to safeguard the nation from potential disaster. She expressed hope that the opposition meeting would be constructive.

However, Mamata Banerjee confirmed that she would not be attending the all-party meeting on Manipur, organized by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on June 24. Instead, the Trinamool Congress would be represented by Derek O'Brien, the party's leader in Rajya Sabha. Banerjee cited the late notification of the meeting as the reason for her absence, stating that she had requested permission to visit Manipur but received the letter about the all-party meeting only the day before.

Banerjee criticized the central government for its failure to restore peace in Manipur, where clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities have resulted in over 100 casualties.

Addressing the violence that occurred in West Bengal during the nomination period for the upcoming Panchayat elections, Mamata Banerjee stated that the poll process in Bengal had been remarkably peaceful. She claimed that it was members of her own party who had been killed and that reports of violence were limited to only a few polling stations.

Regarding the removal of State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha, Banerjee dismissed the possibility and mentioned that she had received no information about Governor C V Ananda Bose returning Sinha's joining report. She asserted that the removal of the SEC would be a complex process, requiring impeachment.

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