NON-BJP CMS may meet, talk political situation, says Raut
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said a conference of non-bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief ministers is likely to be held soon in Mumbai to discuss the prevailing political situation in the country.
The Sena leader said West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written to her counterparts in states where the BJP is not in power, stressing the need to discuss the current situation in the country..
“Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray have discussed this and efforts are on to hold such a conference in Mumbai,” he told reporters here.
Various issues, including unemployment, inflation, “misuse” of central probe agencies and attempts to create communal discord, will be discussed in the upcoming meeting, he added.
The Sena MP’S statement came a day after leaders of 13 opposition parties condemned recent incidents of hate speech and communal violence across the country, urging people to maintain peace and harmony.
In a join statement, Banerjee, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Yadav, Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin and his Jharkhand counterpart, Hemant Soren, among others raised concerns over how issues relating to food, dress, faith, festivals and language “are being used” by the ruling establishment to polarise society.
Raut alleged that recent alleged attacks on processions taken out to mark Ram Navmi and Hanuman Jayanti were “politically sponsored” and an attempt to polarise voters, especially in states where elections are due in the next few months.
BJP leader Madhav Bhandari said “such meetings have been held in the past by leaders like Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Banerjee without any concrete result”. “Their politics is not for the welfare of their people but for their own selfish ends. They are not concerned with the sufferings of the people,” he added.
Banerjee had earlier sought a meeting of chief ministers of non-bjp ruled states as part of her efforts to unite various political parties for a third political alternative against the BJP and the NDA government. In a tweet on February 13, Stalin assured his support and said the meeting of CMS could happen out of Delhi.