Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today wrote to ten main opposition figures, including Sonia Gandhi of the Congress, proposing a large meeting to devise a plan to combat the BJP after the current round of assembly elections. The seven-point note, which was sent on the eve of her big war in Nandigram with bitter rival Suvendu Adhikari, said the time has come for a “united and effective battle against the BJP’s assaults on democracy and the constitution” and “presenting a viable alternative to the citizens of India.”
“I am writing this letter…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,” Mamata Banerjee wrote in the three-page letter.
The letter was sent to 15 non-BJP parties, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK chief MK Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, NC chief
Ms Banerjee offered seven examples of what she called the BJP’s “assaults” on democracy and cooperative federalism, starting with the divisive new legislation that grants the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, the Centre’s proxy, more authority than the city’s elected government.
The list included “misuse” of the governor’s office, central institutions such as the CBI and Enforcement Directorate, “withholding” state funds, “disbanding” bodies such as the National Development Council and Planning Commission, using money control to overthrow non-BJP governments, privatization of “national properties,” and “deterioration” of state-federal ties.
“The BJP wants to make it impossible for non-BJP parties to exercise their constitutional rights and freedoms. It seeks to weaken state governments and reduce them to the status of municipalities. In short, it wants to establish a one-party authoritarian rule in India,” she wrote.
Ms Banerjee has been one of the leading advocates of a united opposition to take on the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. However, the opposition wall they had planned fell through when the leaders failed to overcome internal rivalries, especially among state-level rivals.
