Firebrand Mamata Banerjee to meet regional leaders
Riding high on the success of her meetings in Delhi, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has a jam-packed itinerary for the coming months. She will be meeting regional leaders to whip up maximum support for an anti-BJP front for 2019 LS elections. Contrary to speculation that she would head this front, the firebrand leader clarified that the "leadership question" is still open. Here are the details.
What is Mamata's agenda?
Mamata wants to emulate the recent UP bypolls model where rivals SP and BSP joined hands to defeat BJP. She said, "the strongest party in each constituency should be backed by other parties to ensure a one-on-one fight." With the intention of building such an anti-BJP front, she met a host of Opposition leaders like NCP's Sharad Pawar, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal, etc. in Delhi.
Now, which regional leaders does Mamata plan to meet?
After her Delhi outreach, Mamata will now travel to Chennai to meet DMK supremo M Karunanidhi on April 10. From there, she will rush to Lucknow, where she will meet SP's next-generation leader Akhilesh Yadav. She will also connect with Lalu Yadav's RJD in a few days. She already shares a great rapport with BJD chief and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik.
But, how is Congress placed in this entire scenario?
While in Delhi, Mamata also met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi asking Congress to get on board the federal front. Meanwhile, Congress has taken a cautious approach. It said that leadership talks are premature and the objective should be to get rid of the present regime.
What does this imply?
Though Mamata has forged a federal front, the leader is still not decided. Even if this front wrests power, keeping the coalition together will be tough considering the fickleness and ego hassles of regional leaders. Moreover, will Congress support the Third Front government from outside like in 1996, or will they push for chief Rahul's candidacy as PM? One has to wait and watch.
