Mamata Banerjee speaks to Sonia, meets Akhilesh, Naveen to find ‘common ground’

Key to her insistence on engaging the Congres, sources said, are states going to elections ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. A senior Trinamool Congress leader said: “The states going to elections in 2018 are states where there is a direct fight between the Congress and BJP — Gujarat, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh. These are states where the Congress is the main Opposition and any attempt to forge an alliance of non-BJP parties cannot ignore that.”

On Tuesday evening, Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek also met SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. “The SP chief said they also agreed that any secular front against the BJP must also have the Congress,” sources said.

Banerjee also met Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik in Parliament, and later took to Twitter: “Happy we met. Glad you are looking in good heath.” Trinamool sources said: “The BJP is using the CBI to target the Biju Janta Dal, the same way in which the investigating agency is targeting the TMC in Bengal. She told him (Patnaik) to remain strong and not be intimidated.”

While not confirming or dismissing talk of building an alliance against the BJP, Banerjee said parties were trying to “find common ground” and come together “on a common platform”.