Mamata Banerjee pitches 1:1 formula to Sonia Gandhi, meets BJP rebels

New Delhi: Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and sought the Congress Party’s support to regional parties to facilitate a “1:1” fight with the BJP at the state level in the 2019 general elections.

Ms Banerjee has already indicated her willingness to be the leader of any grouping of federal parties to take on the BJP and has also expressed uneasiness in being part of any front that led by the Congress.

Ms Banerjee, who is on a three-day visit to the national capital, met leaders from across the political spectrum on Tuesday in Parliament and had sent an emissary to enquire whether Mrs Gandhi was present in the Congress office. However, the former Congress president had already left by then.

It is learnt that later in the evening Mrs Gandhi sent a text message to the TMC chief confirming the meeting for Wednesday evening.

After her nearly hour-long meeting with Mrs Gandhi, the West Bengal chief minister told the media, “Whenever I come here I meet her. We share a good relation. I enquired about her health”.

“We also had political discussions. I said that the country wants it to be one-is-to-one in 2019.

 Whichever party is strong in a state, it should fight the BJP there. We want Congress to help the regional parties’ front that is being talked about, so as to facilitate a one-is-to-one fight. This one-is-to-one fight will eliminate BJP politically,” she said.

“I want that Congress wins in Karnataka, because Congress is strong there. In Uttar Pradesh, we want that Akhilesh and Mayawati win and Laluji in Bihar… If there is one-on-one, then the BJP will go, I am 100 per cent sure,” she said.

Earlier in the day, Ms Banerjee met disgruntled BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha, Shatrughan Sinha and Arun Shourie.

Speaking to media after the meeting with the West Bengal chief minister, Mr Shourie, a former Union minister said, “If we go by the 1:1 formula, then we begin by 69 per cent votes as Modi has come to power with only 31 per cent votes”.

Questioned on whether there were any discussions on the leader of an Opposition alliance in formed, he said, “The leader will evolve”.

He added that the Congress needs to cooperate with other parties. “Mamata Banerjee had given them sensible offers in Tripura and Assam but they did not cooperate”.

Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha said, “The country needs to be saved and efforts towards this being made by Ms Banerjee are praiseworthy. We have come to give her full support”.

The TMC chief, who has given indications that she considers herself most eligible for the role of the leader of any Opposition alliance, had on Tuesday met leaders from across the political spectrum, including parties like Samajwadi Party, DMK, Shiv Sena and RJD. The most notable among them was Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar who many consider one of the foremost claimants to lead an Opposition alliance.

Though no representative from the Bahujan Samaj Party met Ms Banerjee, BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday accused the Centre of using double standards and blamed the government for clashes in Bengal.

The West Bengal CM was quick to thank the dalit leader on Twitter, thereby signifying the bonhomie between the two leaders.