Mamata Meets ‘Brother’ Stalin In Chennai; Was It Just A Courtesy Call?

Chennai: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee called on her Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin here on Wednesday evening.

Nothing unusual, considering the fact that the Trinamool Congress supremo misses no chance to bring together a united Opposition to fight the BJP at the Centre.

But what Mamata said after meeting the DMK chief was surprising, to say the least.

Calling Stalin her “brother”, Mamata said her visit was only a “courtesy call” where politics wasn’t discussed.

“Stalin is like my brother. I came to attend a family function but could not have left without meeting Stalin. Two political leaders together can talk about things other than politics… we did not discuss anything about politics,” Mamata was quoted as saying by ANI.

The meeting lasted about 20 minutes, after which both leaders spoke briefly to the media.

Stalin has reportedly accepted Mamata’s invitation to visit Kolkata.

Mamata arrived in Chennai earlier on Wednesday to attend a family function of West Bengal Governor La Ganesan on November 3.

Mamata had said at the Kolkata airport before boarding the flight to Chennai that Stalin was a ‘political friend’.

“Whenever two political persons meet there are related things that get discussed… I trust all the regional parties… they are going to play an important role in the 2024 elections,” Mamata had said.

General elections are due in a year-and-a-half’s time, and not many would believe that Mamata and Stalin didn’t talk about the possibility of forming a common platform to try and deny BJP a third straight term in New Delhi.