Mamata Banerjee’s decision is seen to deliver a huge blow to effort to unite opposition parties over the violence in university campuses and the amended Citizenship Act that has been criticised for introducing religion as a criteria for Indian citizenship.
Trinamool Congress boss Mamata Banerjee on Thursday declared that she will stay away from an opposition meeting called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on January 13.
The Bengal chief minister, who has been angry at the Left parties and the Congress over their attacks at her government, told the state assembly that she had decided to boycott the meeting over violence in the state during the 24-hour nationwide strike call by central trade unions, according to news agency Press Trust of India.
Opposition parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI (M) and Congress leaders, had blamed Mamata Banerjee’s TMC for staging violence to implicate their workers.
Mamata Banerjee’s decision is seen to deliver a huge blow to effort to unite opposition parties over the violence in university campuses and the amended Citizenship Act that has been criticised for introducing religion as a criteria for Indian citizenship.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had once taken a lead role to unite opposition parties, has always been uncomfortable about partnering with the Congress and the Left at the national level though they attempt to be her sharpest critics back home.
In the assembly on Thursday, Banerjee said she will not tolerate “double standards” of the Left Front and Congress.
“I have decided to boycott the meeting convened by Sonia Gandhi on January 13 in New Delhi as I don’t support the violence that the Left and Congress unleashed in West Bengal yesterday (Wednesday),” the chief minister said.
Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of opposition parties, including the Left to discuss the violence on university campuses and protests in the country over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury is playing a lead role to organise the January 13 strategy meet chaired by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and had recently spoken to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Prasanta Patnaik