Kolkata: With the aim to oust BJP from the Centre in the 2019 general elections, both Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah have stressed upon a joint movement by all anti-BJP political parties, which is the need of the hour, instead of "picking and choosing" a candidate as a face for the Prime Ministerial post.
Abdullah called on the Bengal Chief Minister at the state secretariat Nabanna on Friday, when he came to the city to address a conference on federalism.
Banerjee said: "…please don't pick and choose a particular name (for Prime Ministerial candidate) to divide us. All the anti-BJP political parties, including the regional ones, are working together. Only one or two political parties have certain compulsions."
Echoing Banerjee in this connection, the National Conference leader said: "Our (all anti-BJP political parties) first attempt is to come together and defeat BJP in the forthcoming general elections…Moreover, the election date has not yet been announced and the election manifesto is also yet to be ready. So now, we should fight together against BJP."
When asked whether Mamata Banerjee would be the next Prime Minister of India, he said: "She is concerned a lot for Bengal and has carried out massive development work in the state. We would like to take her (to Delhi) for the same (in the country). But today if we start thinking about this then we will lose and we cannot achieve our aim (of defeating BJP)."
Both Banerjee and Abdullah came down heavily on the BJP-led government at the Centre for its "many failures" and "anti-people" activities, starting from threatening a state to its inability to conduct a by-election.
Launching a scathing attack at the Centre, Banerjee said: "Yesterday, Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien informed me that he was threatened for raising a question on Information Technology. Then the concerned minister threatened that they will not let Bengal go if he raises such issues."
She further said that their (BJP's) strategy is to go for the Presidential form of election as they support "dictatorship". "So let us fight for the people and the country to establish a government of people, for the people and by the people at the Centre in 2019."
Abdullah said: "One of the biggest failures of BJP in Jammu and Kashmir is that the internal security situation has remarkably deteriorated since 2014. The reality is that the BJP government at the Centre was unable to conduct even a Parliamentary by-election for a seat that was vacated by Mehbooba Mufti."
In connection with Abdullah, Banerjee said: "He is a young leader of this country and should come up as a national leader. We love Kashmir and India cannot think without it."