West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared on Wednesday that opposition parties would together announce a pre-poll alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to the media after a meeting of the opposition parties at NCP leader Sharad Pawar’s residence in New Delhi, the Trinamool Congress chief said they would have a common minimum agenda to take on the Narendra Modi-led central government.
“We will work together at the national level. We will have a common minimum agenda. We will have a pre-poll alliance,” Mamata said after the hour-long meeting attended by Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, National Congress chief Farooq Abdullah, and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Endorsing Mamata’s views, Congress president Rahul Gandhi termed the meeting “constructive” and said they had agreed to have a common minimum programme to defeat the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
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“We had a very constructive meeting. We agreed that principal target for all of us is to fight against assault on institutes being carried out by BJP,” Gandhi told reporters after the meeting.
He added: “We agreed that principal target for all of us is to wipe assault on Indian institutions being carried out by Narendra Modi, BJP and RSS. We agreed to start a conversation about a common minimum programme and we have a commitment that we are all going to work together to defeat BJP.”
Earlier in the day, Mamata Banerjee made a public commitment to fight along with the Congress and the CPM to take on the BJP in the Parliamentary elections.
“In the coming days, we will fight unitedly. Whatever our fight with Congress and CPM, it will be in the state. At the national level, we will all fight together,” said Banerjee, adding: “For greater interest of the nation, I am ready to sacrifice my life, I am ready to sacrifice my party, I am ready to sacrifice everything.”
She made the announcement at the ‘Save the Constitution’ rally at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, hours after Rahul Gandhi met Trinamool leaders sitting on a dharna on the Parliament grounds in the morning.
This is the first time, the Trinamool and the Congress have spoken about fighting the elections together. Until now, the much talked about Mahagathbandhan has been an anti-BJP and non-Congress front.
Sharad Yadav of the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD), Sharad Pawar, DMK’s Kanimozhi, former Arunachal Pradesh CM Gegong Apang, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja and Samajawadi Party(SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav were among others who spoke at the Jantar Mantar rally.
Spelling out her draft plan, Mamata Banerjee said again there was a need to field one opposition candidate against the BJP candidate.