'Didn't think of Opposition platform sans Cong, but it failed to counter BJP'

KOLKATA: At a time when Trinamool Congress (TMC) is expanding its footprints across the country, party chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday stated that her party did not think of forming an Opposition alliance without Congress. However, she also mentioned that Congress had miserably failed to counter BJP.

Banerjee has written an article titled "Dillir Dak" in the festival number of Jago Bangla, which she released on Wednesday afternoon at Nazrul Mancha.

She maintained that the main purpose was to save the country from the clutches of BJP and in this challenge, her party would play a leading role.

"All the Opposition parties should unite not to satisfy their own equations, but for the interest of the country. The Opposition platform should be based on ideology and work to develop the masses. We are not talking about the platform without Congress," she said.

She remarked that it was a hard reality that Congress had miserably failed to counter BJP and the same had been proven in the last two Lok Sabha elections. She said she had left Congress as the party made an understanding with CPI(M) and Trinamool had become the main face in the fight against CPI(M). Likewise, TMC would be the major force in countering the BJP, she wrote in the article. Banerjee has mentioned in detail her fight against the CPI(M) in Bengal. She has highlighted how CPI(M) tried to finish her political career and how she fought the battle and finally put an end to 34 years of CPI(M) rule in Bengal.

She claimed that as the Railway minister during Atal Behari Vajpayee government and the second term of Manmohan Singh government, steps had been taken by her to lead the thorough overhauling of the Railway system. She maintained that she had never run after posts and did not hesitate to give them up. Her prime concern was the welfare of the masses and she would continue to fight for them.