New Delhi, Mar 27 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today met Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, triggering speculations of an alliance in the political circles.
Raut, however, denied that his party was joining any front.
“The Shiv Sena and Mamata Banerjee have a very warm relationship. There were certain things which Mamata ji wanted to convey to Uddhav ji (Thackeray, president of the Shiv Sena),” he said.
The Sena leader declined to elaborate further on the meeting.
“I respect Shiv Sena. At least it does not do politics with a gun in their hand. There is no party more communal than the BJP,” Banerjee told reporters after the meeting.
The TMC supremo has been trying to weave a federal front, ahead of the 2019 polls.
The meeting also assumes significance as the Shiv Sena has differed with the BJP on numerous fronts.
Although the two parties are in power in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, the second largest party in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, has been critical of the BJP dispensation at the Centre as well in the state. The Sena also recently announced that it would go solo in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
This is not the first time Mamata has met a Shiv Sena leader. Last year, Uddhav Thackeray met Banerjee when the latter was in Mumbai.
The Shiv Sena also supported the rally by Banerjee against demonetisation.
Irked with the BJP over the Union budget, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had also called Thackeray last month. Naidu-led TDP recently pulled out from the NDA after the Centre declined to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh.
BJP using and misusing all agencies: Mamata
New Delhi, Mar 27 : Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today accused the BJP-led NDA government of “using and misusing” all agencies, including the Election Commission.
Banerjee, while speaking to media on the issue of the leaked dates of the Karnataka polls, lashed out at the ruling party and said all institutions were being transformed into “BJP institutions”.
“All agencies are being used and misused. All institutions are becoming BJP institutions,” Banerjee told reporters here.
BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya today tweeted the date of the Karnataka Assembly polls before the Election Commission announced it, prompting the panel to describe the leak as a “very serious issue” that merited a probe and “stringent action”.
Banerjee, who is in Delhi to meet various leaders of opposition parties to form a front against the BJP, also attacked the ruling party for demonetisation and bank frauds.
“I have travelled to all states, the issue of demonetisation and bank frauds have affected people at the grass root level. Time has come for the BJP to pack its bags and go,” she said.
Banerjee will be leaving for Kolkata on Thrusday.
