Mamata speaks to Congress, CPIM leaders over INDIA bloc meet on ECI row

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to address a public meeting at Serampore in Hooghly on Saturday

All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) chief and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee spoke to CPIM general secretary- MA Baby, leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha - Rahul Gandhi, and other opposition leaders to hold a meeting of the INDIA bloc in New Delhi over the Election Commission of India (ECI)-row.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders said that she is expected to give a roadmap of the party’s protest movement in the coming days against the ECI and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming days. (PTI)

“I came to know on Thursday from Banerjee that she received a letter from Baby. The letter came at our Parliamentary party office. In the letter he has said that political parties should join hands to fight against Kumar. He has also proposed that a meeting should be held. Banerjee has agreed,” Saugata Roy, veteran Mamata-AITC leader and MP, said on Saturday.

Banerjee is scheduled to address a public meeting at Serampore in Hooghly on Saturday. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders said that she is expected to give a roadmap of the party’s protest movement in the coming days against the ECI and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming days.

“She has also got in touch with Gandhi and other opposition leaders. No final response has come fixing a date for the upcoming meeting of the opposition leaders,” said Roy.

Hours after the controversy over chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar erupted on Wednesday, Banerjee released a video message on social media demanding the arrest of Kumar and stating that the allies of the INDIA-bloc will meet very soon.

“There should be a fresh mass movement...Protest will continue till he (Kumar) is on the CEC’s chair. The INDIA-bloc members and other regional parties will fight this battle together. I had said that a storm would come. It has already come,” Banerjee said in the 17-minute video clip.

Senior leaders of her party said workers were likely to hit the streets soon to protest against the BJP. “Beware - the revolution is coming! Everyone is going to hit the streets till we reclaim our democracy from the clutches of this Chor,” TMC MP Mahua Moitra wrote on X.

“It is not that INDIA-bloc leaders are meeting for the first time. They have met earlier too. No one asked Banerjee not to attend the meetings of the bloc. It was she who decided to fight alone in the elections. If good sense prevails upon her, it is fine. The high command will discuss and take a decision,” said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, veteran Congress leader.

“Banerjee should go to Delhi. There is nothing left for her in the state now. When they (INDIA-bloc) leaders called her, she didn’t respond. Now she is calling out to them. Let them decide,” said Dilip Ghosh, BJP leader and state minister.