West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee Tuesday met leaders of several parties, including NCP chief Sharad Pawar and RJD MP Misa Bharti at Parliament, in what was apparently a build-up to an anti-BJP federal front for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, there was no meeting with any senior Congress functionary. Late in the evening, TMC sources said there is “good chance” that Banerjee would meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at 7.30 pm on Wednesday. Banerjee met Pawar at the NCP’s office in Parliament. Among those who dropped in at the TMC’s office to meet Banerjee were TRS MP K Kavitha, SP’s Rajya Sabha leader Ram Gopal Yadav, DMK’s Rajya Sabha leader Kanimozhi, former TDP minister Y S Chaudhry, Anubhav Mohanty of BJD, RJD’s Bharti, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and JMM MP Sanjeev Kumar. Banerjee said BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha are due to meet her on Wednesday at her residence. The Trinamool chief said she had sent former railway minister and party MP Dinesh Trivedi to check on UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, with whom she has a personal rapport, but Sonia had left by then. Asked whether she would meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi, she said: “I told you. I had sent Dineshda to Soniaji.one person for one political party.Rahul also messages sometimes, we talk, nothing of the sort.” Asked whether she would campaign in Karnataka ahead of the Assembly polls, she replied, “Depends on who stands where. I want Congress to go with Deve Gowda but I cannot tell them that. Deve Gowda is a good man, he was prime minister with Congress support. But that is a decision only Congress can take.” Campaigning for his party in run-up to Karnataka polls, Rahul on JD(S) — which has Deve Gowda as its chief — said, “JD(S) has become Janata Dal Sangh Parivar. They should tell the people if they are supporting the BJP or are with the poor of the state.” Senior lawyer and former Aam Aadmi Party member Prashant Bhushan too dropped by to meet Banerjee, triggering speculation that Trinamool may support an impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. Bhusan had made several allegations against Misra on the issue of clearances to medical colleges. Banerjee, however, said, “I cannot ignore what four senior judges of the Supreme Court have said. But let other parties discuss the matter (of impeachment) and Trinamool will go with whatever they decide.” Describing the present NDA as “very different from Vajpayee NDA” of which she was a part, she said this government is in the process of “winding up”. She described RSS as an outfit that is now only “associated with real estate and shopping malls” and also took potshots at BJP for their new party headquarters. “Politics is not a business or a commercial venture. It’s a social obligation. A political party that has an office worth thousands of crores.it is not something to be proud of, it is a disgrace,” she said. Banerjee is also likely to meet Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal at her residence after 6 pm Wednesday, confirmed sources in both parties. A source in TMC told The Indian Express, “Mamata Banerjee is interested in having a conversation with Arvind (Kejriwal) about a number of issues, including his participation in a possible federal front. She is also interested in asking about his politics of apology and also the recent HC judgment on the EC disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs.” —With ENS, Delhi
