Speculation on Mamata’s role in I.N.D.I Alliance

Mamata Banerjee proposes expanding alliance as parties prepare to challenge BJP-led NDA.

With the INDIA bloc meeting held on September 30 and all parties deciding to take on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the special intensive revision of the voter rolls, sources indicated that Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has also offered to bring more parties into the opposition bloc to make it stronger to take on the BJP-led NDA. Banerjee had indicated that the INDIA bloc could accommodate more Opposition parties, including the DMK, and that the question of who should lead the alliance would be decided collectively.

Sources said that during the meeting of the INDIA bloc at Constitution Club here, the Trinamool Congress chief also suggested bringing the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal into the opposition fold. Sources said that the former West Bengal Chief Minister will take steps to speak to her former counterpart Patnaik in the coming days to persuade him to join the opposition front. However, sources in the BJD said that no such formal talks have started and that it is very early to comment on the matter. Earlier this week, BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra also stated that “BJD is not part of the INDIA alliance. Our leader and party president Naveen Patnaik has made our stand crystal clear on two major fronts.” Meanwhile, sources in the Trinamool Congress said that during the INDIA bloc meeting, Banerjee had talked about including the BJD in the opposition fold.