WB CM Mamata Banerjee calls for united Opposition, unleashes a 7-point attack on Modi govt

Amid the ongoing West Bengal Assembly elections, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has written to several leaders of political parties seeking a united Opposition front against the BJP-NDA government at the Centre. Surrounding her arguments for a united front around the passage of the GNCTD Bill, which has received the President's assent, the West Bengal CM unleashed a spree of accusations against the Modi government. 

The letter, dated March 28, addressed to NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, DMK supremo MK Stalin and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Mamata Banerjee has cited 7-points claiming that the BJP, in power at the Centre, wants to establish a 'one-party authoritarian rule' in India and called for a united Opposition of 'like-minded parties'. 

Condemning the passage of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, the Bengal CM in her letter stated that with the imposition of the said bill the Lieutenant Governor has been made the 'undeclared Viceroy of Delhi' and the acting 'proxy' for the Home Minister and the Prime Minister.

"It also makes a mockery of the letter and spirit of democracy since it disempowers the people of the national capital. Furthermore, it violates the unambiguous verdict by a five-judge Supreme Court bench in 2018, which upheld the pre-eminence of Delhi's elected Government in all matters other than police, public order and land," the TMC chief wrote. 

In her 7-point attack on the PM Modi-led government at the Centre, Mamata Banerjee said that the Union Government has been 'creating problems' for the elected governments by 'misusing' the office of the Governor. Citing the example of West Bengal, where Governor Jagdeep Dhankar has pulled up the TMC administration on several occasion for failing to maintain law & order, Mamata Banerjee said that the Governors have been functioning like 'BJP's office bearers and not as neutral Constitutional authorities. The TMC chief also criticised the Centre, claiming that it has been 'brazenly and vindictively' misusing Central agencies including the CBI and ED against political opponents. 

Moreover, Mamata Banerjee also claimed that the Modi government is deliberately withholding the transfer of funds to state governments and accused the Centre of downplaying Federalism by disbanding the Planning Commission, formed by the Centre back in 1950, which was dissolved by PM Modi in 2014. "The BJP has amassed unlimited resources from questionable sources, which it is using to topple duly elected non-BJP governments and to engineer defections in non-BJP parties," Mamata Banerjee added. The Bengal CM also came down harshly on the Union Government's push for privatisation and claimed that the Centre-State relations have been at the lowest today, and blamed the PM's 'authoritarian conduct' for the same. 

"I strongly believe that the time has come for a united and effective struggle against the BJP's attack on democracy and the Constitution. As the Chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress, I shall work wholeheartedly with you and all other like-minded political parties in this battle," Mamata Banerjee concluded while calling for a meet on the same after the conclusion of the Assembly polls. 

All eyes on Mamata's Nandigram battle 

With the first phase of West Bengal Assembly polls concluding on Saturday, the second phase is set to witness polling on Thursday. Of the 30 constituencies, all eyes will be on the Nandigram battle where TMC chief will lock horns with her former aide Suvendu Adhikari, now a BJP leader. In the many election rallies that have taken place, both Banerjee and Adhikari have exuded confidence that they will outshine the other with a significant margin.