The beleaguered West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee facing an imminent defeat from the seat of Nandigram which heads to polls today, has sent out an SOS letter to opposition party leaders as she pleads them to save her and the Trinamool Congress from the BJP wave which threatens to sweep away Mamata’s political career.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in what appears to be a desperate call for help has dispatched a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK president MK Stalin, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik, YSR Congress head and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya.
In the letter, Mamata claims that the BJP wants to establish a “one-party authoritarian rule” in India while reducing the state governments to “mere municipalities”. She urged the 14 opposition leaders to come together post the Assembly elections in a bid to counter the rampant BJP.
Keeping scant regard for the underlying irony, Mamata in her three-page letter expressed concern about the “series of assaults” by the BJP and the Union government on “democracy and Constitutional Federalism”.
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Mamata also harped about the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill which was passed by both the houses of the parliament which mandates all policy decisions taken by the elected Delhi government to be cleared by the Lt. Governor.
“The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act is a direct attack on the federal structure of the Indian republic as enshrined in the Constitution. It also makes a mockery of letter and spirit of democracy since it disempowers the people of the national capital,” wrote the beleaguered Chief Minister.
She continued her rant as she then proceeded to out seven instances of the Centre trying to upstage the state government’s power – from Governors, vindictive use of agencies such as the CBI and the ED, and withholding transfer of funds to the state governments – she ranted about almost everything under the sun.
The West Bengal CM wrote, “There is a clear pattern and purpose behind all these developments. The BJP wants to make it impossible for non-BJP parties to exercise their constitutional rights and freedoms. It wants to dilute the powers of the State governments and downgrade them to mere municipalities. It wants to establish a one-party authoritarian rule in India.”
Highlighting the urgent need for a “united and effective” struggle, she concluded her letter by urging all the parties to come together to draft a plan of action to take on the BJP.
Yesterday, two road shows in Nandigram – one by the BJP and one by Mamata revealed which way the political winds are blowing in West Bengal. Amit Shah’s grand rally with Suvendu Adhikari bested Mamata Banerjee’s sad roadshow. The tide has turned and it is bigger than anyone can imagine. TMC and Mamata Banerjee are well aware of this fact and hence, have sent out an SOS call to the opposition. This is more accurate than an opinion poll.