West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hailed her Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati late on Saturday following their respective stand against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Trinamool Congress leader took to Twitter in support of Naidu who had on Saturday responded to BJP president Amit Shah’s claim that TDP leaders broke off from NDA out of “political considerations” and not on the issue of development.
In her tweet, Banerjee termed BJP’s brand of politics as “fake federalism”.
“I appreciate that Chandrababu Naidu Ji @ncbn has stated the facts. Very good. There are many so called leaders who spread lies. They make this a habit. They try and bulldoze States and show that they are doing the States a favour by giving funds. This is fake federalism [sic].”
I appreciate that Chandrababu Naidu Ji @ncbn has stated the facts. Very good. There are many so called leaders who spread lies. They make this a habit. They try and bulldoze States and show that they are doing the States a favour by giving funds. This is fake federalism
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 24, 2018
Naidu slammed Shah for spreading “false information which shows their (the BJP’s) attitude”. Shah had alleged that the Andhra Pradesh government failed to utilise the funds released by the Centre for development purposes.
In his response, Naidu stated that his state is the highest contributor to CGST, has robust GDP, is a leading state in the area of agriculture and has many national awards.
Till date, only 576 Cr., out of 11.7 k Cr. have been released for the establishment and ‘functionality’ of 11 premier institutes while the land has been allotted by the state itself. At this pace, it’ll take around 2 decades to complete the construction work for these institutes.
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) March 24, 2018
He added that had Centre helped, the state would have been able to attract industries.
Read More: Amit Shah insulted people of Andhra Pradesh: Chandrababu Naidu
Banerjee also praised former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati after the latter accused the BJP of creating an “environment of fear” to influence the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The Bengal CM, who recently met Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leader K Chandrashekhar Rao in Kolkata for talks on a third front-like alliance, also said that her party will be with the BSP as well as Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party.
“I welcome the views expressed by Mayawati Ji today. We are strongly with her and @yadavakhilesh in this mission for the nation [sic],” wrote Mamata on Twitter.
I welcome the views expressed by Mayawati Ji today. We are strongly with her and @yadavakhilesh in this mission for the nation
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 24, 2018
Mayawati had on Saturday said that the BJP misused government machinery to defeat the lone BSP candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Read More: Mayawati accuses BJP of creating fear to win RS seat, suspends MLA for cross-voting
“BJP used everything in its power, misused its machinery and used unconstitutional methods to break the recent closeness between SP and BSP,” the BSP supremor told the media.
Claiming that the lone BSP candidate, Bhim Rao Ambedkar, was defeated through conspiracy, Mayawati said that people are aware of the methods used by the BJP government at the Centre and the state to ensure their victory in the elections.
Her remarks came as SP chief Akhilesh Yadav cancelled the victory celebrations for his party nominee Jaya Bachchan in Lucknow as a sign of solidarity with the BSP.
Mayawati said that SP and BSP will continue to walk on the newly discovered common ground and that the Rajya Sabha loss has strengthened the resolve of both parties to defeat BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.