Mamata sends fresh feelers to Congress for anti-Modi alliance
Trinamul Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has sent a fresh feeler to the Congress for an alliance as a like-minded party to overthrow the Modi-led BJP government in the Lok Sabha elections.
Without hiding her ambitions to be the Prime Minister, she said in an interview in Kolkata that Congress President Rahul Gandhi was ‘much junior’ to her. She, however, said who becomes the PM is a secondary issue to be tackled as “instead of preparing the PM candidature, let us work together.”
She has picked up the thread from the West Bengal Congress appeared vertically divided on Rahul Gandhi holding a meeting of its leaders in Delhi last week. Happy at a section of leaders toes the pro-Trinamul line, she said: “I don’t have any problem with Congress. My intention will be to unite all. But it is not my decision alone. It has to be the decision of all regional parties.”
Offering herself as a coordinator if not the leader of the regional parties, Mamata said: “If the Congress is strong and gets more seats in some places, let it take the lead. If the regional parties are together somewhere else, they can be the decision makers.”
Asked if she rules herself out as a prospective prime minister, she quipped: “Who am I to rule out anything? I am a seasoned politician, a very senior politician. After my struggles, I have been MP seven times and MLA twice and CM twice. So I won’t say anything that others may not like.”