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'President to protect Constitution': Congress targets BJP as Mamata calls meet
Mamata Banerjee has called for a meeting of opposition leaders ahead of the July 18 election for the next president of the country.
Twenty-two leaders are set to take part in a mega opposition meeting next week in Delhi, which has been called by Mamata Banerjee ahead of the presidential polls. Among those who have been invited are Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and chief ministers of eight non-BJP ruled states, including Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal and Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan.
Ahead of the big meeting, the Congress - in a statement on Saturday - underlined: “We owe it to our people to elect a president who can apply a healing touch to the fractured social fabric and defend our Constitution.” The party has also targeted the BJP.
"The time is ripe to rise above our differences for the sake of our nation and its people. Discussions have to be open-minded and in keeping with this spirit. We believe that the Congress along with other political parties should be taking this discussion forward," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, news agency PTI reported.
The party statement comes days after Sonia Gandhi met former union minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar ahead of the July 18 presidential polls. President Ram Nath Kovind's term ends on July 24.
In its Saturday statement, the Congress also launched an attack on the BJP: "The Congress Party is of the opinion that the nation needs a person as president who can protect the Constitution, our institutions and citizenry from the ongoing onslaught by the ruling party. This is the need of the hour.”
The Trinamool’s announcement of Mamata Banerjee’s June 15 meeting said it was called “with an initiative of strong and effective opposition against the divisive forces”. She has “reached out to the opposition CMs and leaders to participate in a joint meeting," it said.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Thiru MK Stalin, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Uddhav Thackeray, chief minister of Maharastra, Hemant Soren chief minister of Jharkhand and Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann have also been invited. Telangana chief minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao - who has been very vocal in his criticism of the BJP - is also on the invitee list.
(With inputs from PTI)
