We are all together against the BJP: Mamata

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s meeting with Mamata Banerjee at the West Bengal State secretariat on November 19 is being seen as a major step towards the formation of a “mahagathbandhan”, or a grand alliance of the opposition parties, to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“Today senior leaders like Mamataji and I have a responsibility. We have to save the nation. We have to save democracy. We have to save the institutions,” said Naidu, addressing the media after the hour-long meeting. He said institutions such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Income Tax Department, the Reserve Bank of India and the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) were under tremendous stress and there was a democratic compulsion for the opposition parties to unite against the BJP. “Demonetisation has become a big farce… growth has been staggering, there has been devaluation of the Rupee, and also petrol and diesel rates are increasing. There is inflation, the economy has come to a standstill, there is unemployment problem, and even agriculture is in the doldrums. And there is intolerance towards the minorities,” he said.  The Telugu Desam Party chief also confirmed that he would be participating in the rally of opposition parties organised by Trinamool Congress scheduled to be held in Kolkata on January 19, 2019.

Asked by journalists as to who would be the “face” of the mahagathbandhan,

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee replied that everybody would be the face of the grand alliance. “We can tell you one thing, that we are together. We are working together, even we are speaking together. We are all together against the BJP government to save the nation, she said.