Samajwadi Party(SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadavon Thursday met incumbent West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata, days after the TMC, led byMamata Banerjee, lost the high-stakes Bengal assembly elections to theBharatiya Janata Party.
Akhilesh Yadav, who is part of the Opposition's INDIA bloc against the NDA, told Abhishek that they had fought "very well" and also expressed his solidarity with Mamata Banerjee's, saying, "Didi, you have not lost."
Addressing the press after meeting Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav said, "..They do not like Didi (Mamata Banerjee) because Didi likes to fight... She is being hated by them, because she is the representative of half the population. The people of the BJP who are masculine and feudal, can never see a woman growing. They did not let a woman become the Chief Minister in Rajasthan... they made only one women Chief Minister, who has no power..."
"We are with Didi in this fight because we have to save democracy and the constitution. If they take away our voting rights, then what democracy is left? Nobody has destroyed democracy as much as the BJP has. The BJP can go to any extent for power. They can break any law. We saw very closely in Uttar Pradesh what they did there. They have done it here," Akhilesh Yadav said.
Accompanied by Mamata's newphew Abhishek Banerjee and TMC MP Derek O'Brien, Akhilesh Yadav continued speaking to press and added, "I hope that the people of the country will wake up after this. Whatever happened in Bengal... can you imagine that over 3 lakh central forces were deployed in Bengal and selective officers were posted? I have also heard that the officers were lured that if they help them win the elections, then we will be paid well... and you will see that all the big officers who are getting the elections done from here will get some big post later."
Earlier, Yadav was received by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at the Kalighat residence of the party's supreme leader earlier today.
The meeting assumed political significance amid efforts by opposition parties to recalibrate their strategies after the elections in several states.
Banerjee has vowed to strengthen the INDIA bloc after the TMC's defeat in the West Bengal polls.
Yadav is understood to have discussed the post-poll political situation in West Bengal and reiterated support for opposition unity against the BJP.
The BJP won 207 seats to secure more than a two-thirds majority in the 294-member West Bengal assembly, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule. The Mamata Banerjee-led party got only 80 seats.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
