“What is UPA? There is no UPA,” said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday after meeting Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar here on Wednesday.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader’s statement on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was made during her three-day visit to Maharashtra’s capital city during which she is meeting leaders of the NCP and Shiv Sena. The comment by the TMC chief comes amid a cold war between Congress and the TMC. Recently, Mamata Banerjee visited Delhi, but she did not meet Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Pawar tweeted a photograph of the meeting with the TMC leader at his residence here. “Pleased to meet Hon’ble CM of West Bengal Smt @MamataOfficial at my Mumbai residence. We discussed various issues. We agreed upon the need to strengthen the collective efforts and commitment towards safeguarding democratic values and ensuring the betterment of our people,” Pawar tweeted.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee noted that a firm alternative course should be made to fight against “fascism”. “A firm alternative course should be made as nobody is fighting against ongoing fascism. Sharadji is the senior-most leader and I came to discuss our political parties. I agree with whatever Sharadji said. There is no UPA,” the West Bengal CM said. Earlier in the day, Mamata Banerjee had said that if all the regional parties came together, then defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be easy.
Pawar said that there was a need for like-minded political forces to come together to provide a “strong alternative” at the national level. Pawar spelt out his strategy to counter the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. After meeting Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday, Pawar said that Mamata Banerjee’s intention is that like-minded forces should come together at the national level and set up a collective leadership. “We have to provide a strong alternative to leadership. Our thinking is not for today, but for the election. This has to be established and with that intention, she has visited and had a very positive discussion with all of us,” he said.
“Be it Congress or any other party, the thing is that those who are against BJP, if they will come together, they are welcome,” he said when asked if Congress will be a part of the “strong alternative”.
Banerjee has been recently reaching out to an array of regional parties. Her meeting with Pawar came a day after she held discussions with Shiv Sena leaders Sanjay Raut and Aaditya Thackeray.
Meanwhile, BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday termed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s meetings with NCP and Shiv Sena leaders in Mumbai as a “show”. “I don’t think anything will happen with these meetings. How will Mamata Banerjee support Shiv Sena? What do they have there? There is a distance of 3,000 km between them. It is all a show,” the BJP leader remarked.
“It is a good thing to form a national party. But who is with her? She tried to break Congress in Tripura and bagged some votes, but was not successful. It is good that she has now gone to Maharashtra, where she attempted to wash her sins of politics of violence and murders committed in Bengal by visiting Siddhivinayak Temple,” Ghosh added.
Meanwhile, on the speculation of Mamata attempting to form a coalition and becoming the Opposition’s face in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said, “The Opposition does not need a face to be united, ideas are needed. First, ideology should match, then anyone can be the Opposition. Uddhav Thackeray is also in people’s minds. Uddhav Thackeray’s name is counted in 4-5 Chief Ministers who are said to be good. We also feel that Uddhav Thackeray should become the Prime Minister of the country. What is wrong with it? It is a good thing to meet the leaders of the country’s Opposition. It is good that somebody believes there should be unity in Opposition. The Opposition is not united, thus, they (BJP) are enjoying it,” Sawant said.