New Delhi: Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday reiterated that the decision on who would be the prime ministerial face of the Grand Alliance would be a ‘collective decision”. Further, she tried to drive a wedge in the saffron by praising home minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
Speaking at an event at the Constitution Club in New Delhi she said: “Everybody in BJP is not bad. Rajnathji and Sushmaji are good people.” She followed that up with a scathing barb: “There’s a difference between potatoes and potato chips.”
Ms Banerjee, who is also likely to call on the Opposition leaders in the national capital is expected to meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Parliament on Wednesday. When asked whether Ms Banerjee would also meet Rahul Gandhi, a senior TMC leader was non-committal. “If the West Bengal chief minister chances upon any particular leader in the Parliament Central Hall then it cannot be predicted,” he said.
Ms Banerjee had recently refused to accept Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the leader of any Opposition alliance and had instead suggested that she would be fit for the role. The TMC chief, who has been projecting herself as the chief challenge to the Modi-led BJP, began her diatribe against the “ruling” party by initially saying that she would not name anybody. But soon the word BJP slipped out and she said that the party cannot muzzle her voice and stop her from speaking against their policies. Her remarks came in the context of cancellation of an event at the St Stephen’s College in Delhi, where she was invited as the main speaker. Ms Banerjee said she would continue raising her voice for the underprivileged.
On Tuesday she was addressing as the chief guest at the Love Your Neighbour conference organised by the Catholic Bishops Conference in New Delhi.
The TMC chief also said she would take to the streets if the BJP tried to stop her from speaking at events. “They feel that they can stop me, muzzle my voice. They would cancel my events. But I want to tell them that I will take to the streets to raise my voice against them, their policies. That is best for me.”
She also accused the ruling party of trying to threaten the judiciary and the media so that no one can speak against them.
