Mamata Banerjee: INDIA bloc is united and will "move forward collectively"
A day after the opposition announced a joint agitation over the SIR exercise, the TMC chairperson said the bloc was "like a family", dismissed talk of individual decisions, and reached out to leaders from Kejriwal and Nitish Kumar to M K Stalin.
A day after the INDIA Alliance announced a joint agitation demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner over the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Friday asserted that the opposition bloc was united and would "move forward collectively".
"It is not about individual decisions. We are like a family, and we will decide collectively on these issues," Banerjee told reporters at a press conference in Delhi, where she was joined by party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and senior leaders including Derek O'Brien, Dola Sen, Mahua Moitra and Saket Gokhale.
Banerjee said she had responded promptly last week when CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby reached out to her over the working of the Election Commission, calling it a "national issue" on which parties should look beyond their individual colours. The interaction had drawn attention given the decades-long rivalry between the Trinamool and the Left in West Bengal.
"Our position is that when Constitutional institutions and democratic rights are at stake, political parties should examine the issue beyond their individual colours and interests," she said.
Asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the question of the alliance's leadership and who could be its prime ministerial face, Banerjee said the bloc stood united and would not be drawn into individual projections.
She added that she maintained good relations with leaders such as Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar and DMK president M K Stalin, while acknowledging that regional parties had their own circumstances and compulsions.
The remarks signal a fresh effort to project cohesion within the opposition after the bloc announced its joint agitation over the electoral-roll revision exercise.
Sources
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