West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, who arrived in Mumbai on Thursday for the wedding of industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s son, Anant Ambani, is set to meet Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP (SP) Chief Sharad Pawar on Friday. This marks Banerjee’s first meeting with Thackeray since the Lok Sabha poll results.
Banerjee is also likely to meet SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
“I’m going to Mumbai for Mukeshji’s son’s wedding. They have extended the invitation multiple times, and Mukeshji has attended Biswa Bangla (Bengal business summit) several times upon our invitation. I decided to attend since Mukeshji, his son, and Nitaji urged me repeatedly. I have scheduled political talks with Uddhav tomorrow as we haven’t met since the elections. I will also visit Sharadji. Akhilesh is also arriving tomorrow, and I might meet him too,” Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata before flying to Mumbai.
On June 4, when the Lok Sabha poll results were announced, Thackeray spoke to Banerjee and said the INDIA bloc must stake claim to form the government at the Centre. Thackeray later told the media that he had spoken to Banerjee and she was on board. Last year, Banerjee visited Matoshree and tied a rakhi on Thackeray during an INDIA bloc meeting in the city. In June, Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee met Thackeray to discuss the opposition bloc’s strategy.
Speaking to reporters, Banerjee also criticized the BJP, its IT cell, and a section of the media for maligning Bengal over a recent mob assault in Ariadaha, North 24 Parganas.
Banerjee claimed that the viral video of the incident, which occurred two years ago, was being used to damage the Wednesday bypolls in four assembly constituencies. She stated that the incident happened when Arjun Singh was BJP MP from Barrackpore LS constituency and that the accused were arrested and remain in jail. She also addressed another incident in Ranibandh, attributing it to personal enmity rather than political motives.
The CM urged everyone to verify news before broadcasting. She warned that if requests do not work, she might consider legal action.
