The chief ministers of Opposition-ruled states will meet next month to raise their voice against the “autocratic” centre which has been trying to disturb the federal structure, according to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

She expressed gratitude to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin for standing by her after Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar prorogued the West Bengal Assembly unilaterally.

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On the ongoing Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Banerjee said the Trinamool Congress did not contest the polls since she wanted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to emerge victorious. “We did not want the division of votes…so this time we did not field any candidate. But I told Akhilesh that we will contest the Lok Sabha polls from UP.”

She said the BJP’s attempts to divide the people in the name of religion would not succeed in UP this time. The Muslims, Jats, Dalits, Gujjars, Thakurs and Brahmins were all against the BJP, she claimed.

Asked about Goa, Banerjee said, “We started from scratch in Goa and only had four months in our hand to contest the Assembly polls. I am happy that now every household in Goa knows my party’s name. I believe the TMC will do much better in Goa.”

Asked whether the Trinamool Congress was against the Congress, she said, “Why should we be against the Congress? But the party which claims to be secular should come forward and unite all other parties to fight against the autocrat BJP at the centre.”

She thanked the people of West Bengal for choosing the Trinamool Congress in the municipal corporation polls in Bidhannagar, Siliguri, Asansol and Chandannagar.
In the coming days, 107 civic bodies in the state would go to the polls. “I request the people of Bengal to vote for development of the state and I warn my workers and leaders that there should not be any violence,” she said.

Banerjee said; ”The more elections the Trinamool Congress wins, the more responsibilities we get, we promise we will work for the betterment of the people of Bengal.” She said industrialisation and employment generation were priorities of her government.

She said she was asking officials to make sure that all the welfare schemes were run smoothly in the state.