Abhishek hints at Mamata leading INDIA Bloc, says she is the ‘senior most leader’; ‘alliance will sit & discuss’

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee on Monday made a significant statement where he said that India boc leaders will sit and discuss the proposal of making his party supremo Mamata Banerjee as the leader of India bloc.

Several leaders of the India bloc had raised a demand that Mamata Banerjee should be made the leader of the Opposition alliance.

Commenting on the India bloc members suggesting Mamata Banerjee as their leader, Abhishek Banerjee said: “INDIA alliance will sit and discuss this. She is the senior-most leader. This is her third term as the Chief Minister and she has also been a Union minister. So, there should be a detailed discussion regarding this.”

Abhishek further stated: “No party should be treated small. Trinamool Congress is the only party in the INDIA alliance that has defeated the BJP as well as the Congress. This shows its strength. Undermining regional parties is incorrect, this is the mistake which both Congress and the BJP make. We have come here after being voted by the people, though the number is 29, one should never undermine people.”

He also reminded that his party reduced the number of BJP MPs in Bengal. “We have a good strike rate against them. TMC is the only party where BJP leaders have joined, unlike other scenarios where BJP poached leaders. We have seen how BJP breaks parties, poach leaders,” said Abhishek.

After recent electoral defeats in Haryana and Maharashtra, leaders such as Sharad Pawar and Lalu Prasad backed Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the leader of the INDIA bloc. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav endorsed Mamata for INDIA bloc leadership, saying: “We will support Mamata Banerjee. She should be allowed to head the INDIA bloc.”

Mamata Banerjee during her interview with a vernacular television recently said she could manage the dual responsibility of running the opposition front from Bengal while continuing her role as the chief minister of West Bengal. Senior TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee also urged the Congress to “set aside its ego” and accept Mamata Banerjee as the leader of the alliance.