‘Unite against the BJP’: Mamata calls on Oppn

TMC chief writes to over a dozen non-BJP leaders across states, raises 7 allegations against the BJP

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee called on the Opposition to put up a united and effective struggle against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which, she alleged, wants to dilute the powers of the state governments.

In a letter to at least a dozen non-BJP leaders in various states on May 28, which her party Trinamool Congress (TMC) made public on Wednesday a day before the second phase of assembly elections, Banerjee suggested a meeting of all leaders after the assembly elections are over to chart a plan of action.

“I strongly believe that the time has come for a united and effective struggle against the BJP’s attacks on democracy and the Constitution,” the TMC supremo said in her letter, which was sent to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s MK Stalin, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand Mukti Mor

cha’s Hemant Soren, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president Arvind Kejriwal, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Andhra Pradesh CM Jaganmohan Reddy, KS Reddy, National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti and Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya.

In the three-page letter, Banerjee raised seven allegations against the BJP — including misusing the governor’s office in non-BJP ruled states, brazenly and vindictively misusing central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and withholding transfer of funds to states.

Citing the examples of both West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where assembly elections are now underway, she accused the government of “unleashing” ED to conduct raids on functionaries of the TMC and the DMK. “Predictably, these institutions target only non-BJP leaders, and never those belonging to the BJP,” she alleged.

“There is a clear pattern and purpose behind all these developments. The BJP wants to make it impossible for non-BJP parties to exercise their Constitutional rights and freedom. It wants to dilute the powers of state governments and downgrade them to mere municipalities. In short it wants to establish a one-party authoritarian rule in India,” the letter states.

The letter being made public comes at a time when the assembly elections are going on in West Bengal and the BJP, which had made deep inroads in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in the state, has set a target to win more than 200 of the 294 assembly seats to oust the TMC. The TMC, on the other hand, has claimed that the BJP won’t get even 100 seats.

Banerjee also cited the controversial Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which effectively hands executive powers to the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) from the AAPled Delhi government and legislative assembly.

“You will also agree that what the BJP has done in Delhi is not an exception but is increasingly becoming a rule,” she wrote in the letter.

Responding to the letter, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said they have extended full support to the TMC chief and if possible Pawar will try to visit West Bengal in the last phase of the assembly elections. The Shiv Sena also expressed solidarity with Banerjee.

“The opposition has to unite against the BJP to save the democracy and federalism of the country. There is no other alternative. And I think Uddhav Thackerayji has already laid the foundation of uniting the opposition against the BJP,” said Sena spokesperson Arvind Sawant.

Shiv Sena had earlier said it will not contest elections in Bengal to prevent split in the anti-BJP votes.

Supriyo Bhattacharrya, general secretary of JMM, said his party and leader have repeatedly been raising the same issues for long. “And this is one of the primary reason we decided to withdraw from Bengal polls and support TMC. The way the ECI [Election Commission of India] is being missed in Bengal polls is for all to see,” he said.

The senior JMM leader, who is also the party’s spokesperson, also called on BJP ally Nitish Kumar to join forces with the non-BJP opposition. “Leaders like Nitish Kumar and Naveen Patnaik are from socialist background. Nitish Kumar often takes names of JP and Lohia [Jay Prakash NarIndia

ayan and Ram Manohar Lohia]. They need to join forces and protect the way states are being strangled by the BJP which otherwise talks about co-operative federalism,” Bhattacharrya said.

Slamming Banerjee, the BJP said that democracy should be the last word in her dictionary. “Democracy should be the last word in @MamataOfficial & @AITCofficial dictionary. Their cadre attack @BJP4Bengal candidates, intimidate voters, capture booths, block all hoardings and at the end leaders preach Democracy,” BJP general secretary BL Santhosh tweeted.

HE SENIOR JMM LEADER, WHO IS ALSO THE PARTY’S SPOKESPERSON, ALSO CALLED ON BJP ALLY NITISH KUMAR TO JOIN FORCES WITH THE NON-BJP OPPOSITION.