Kolkata: A day ahead of arguably her toughest election contest, Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday wrote to major Opposition leaders that time has come for a “united and effective struggle” against BJP’s “attacks on democracy and Constitution.”
Among leaders the West Bengal Chief Minister has written to are Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, MK Stalin, Tejashwi Yadav.
“I am writing this letter to you, and to several leaders of non-BJP parties, to convey my serious concerns over a series of assaults by the BJP and its government at the Centre on democracy and constitutional federalism in India,” the letter stated.
Among other things, Mamata’s three-page letter refers to the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill passed by both Houses of Parliament, describing it as an “extremely grave” development.
“With this law, the BJP government at the Centre has snatched away practically all the powers of the democratically elected government of Delhi and vested them in the hands of the Lt Governor, a nominee of the Centre. The Lt Governor has been made the undeclared Viceroy of Delhi, acting as the proxy for the home minister and prime minister,” Mamata has written.
In the second of eight-phase polling in West Bengal on Thursday, 69 seats will be up for grabs. But none more significant than the Nandigram constituency, where Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is up against former aide and TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari of BJP.
