By Quaid Najmi Mumbai, Nov 30, : Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister, has arrived in Mumbai for a two-day visit.She is due to meet with top leaders of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party, and leading industrialists.
They include NCP President Sharad Pwar, Shiv Sena’s Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray, and Sanjay Raut MP and chief spokesperson.Both are members of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance that includes Congress as the third partner.
Nawab Malik, NCP national spokesperson, said that Mamata Banerjee, the CM of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee will pay a courtesy call to our party President Sharad Saheb tomorrow at 3 p.m.at his residence Silver Oak’ in Mumbai.
Raut and Thackeray Jr.were scheduled to call on Banerjee, who is also the chief of Trinamool Congress, at a five star hotel in Nariman Point (south Mumbai), although the meeting agenda is being kept secret.
Banerjee arrived in Mumbai this evening and drove down the famous Shri Siddhivinayak Gnptai Temple at Prabhadevi to offer prayers.
She then went to Girgaum Chowpatty Beach, where she paid her respects to Tukaram Ombale – the policeman who captured the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kazab alive at the height of the Mumbai terror attack on November 27, 2008.
There was speculation in some circles about a possible meeting between Chief Minister Uddhav Thckeray and her, but it was categorically ruled off as he is currently recovering from a spinal operation.
Raut did however inquire about his health.
Banerjee will meet with several top corporate executives and industrialists on Wednesday to try to attract them to invest in her state.
She will also invite them to the Bengal Global Business Summit, which will be held in April 2022.
However, Zakir Ahmed, Congress’ Maharashtra General Secretary, and Media Coordinator, criticized Banerjee for her style of politics.
She said that she has not been able to assess the ground realities and that she must be thrown out with a neo-political novice such as Prashant Kishore.
“The Congress and Rahul Gandhi are fighting the RSS, BJP, and (Prime Minister Narendra Modi- (Home Ministry) Amit Shah.
Mamta will be challenging Rahul Gandhi and Congress.Ahmed claimed that she is helping the saffron organizations and making the same mistakes as Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and other past leaders.”
NCP’s Malik stated that Pawar had repeatedly stressed the need for all the opposition parties to unite but that such an alliance was impossible without the Congress.
“We believe that if Sena-NCP/Congress could come together in Maharashtra, then even AITC can work with the Congress.” Malik stated that if there are differences, these can be worked out.
Banerjee, fresh from winning the West Bengal Assembly elections in May, is now preparing for a national political flight.
Last April, Pawar had planned to campaign for Banerjee in the Assembly elections, but was unable due to some constraints.The Sena had also decided to not put up candidates there to protect the prospects of the Trinamool.
Both Pawar and Banerjee have been making great efforts to engage national opposition parties and fight the Bharatiya Janata Party during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Banerjee has a great relationship with Uddhav Thackeray who she has also met in the past.
However, her relationships with the Congress, the third partner of the MVA here, continue to be strained due to political reasons in her home country.
The Sena and Trinamool, akin to Congress and the NCP, are political rivals of BJP.Thackeray is a fiery fighter-orator, while Banerjee is a powerful home-turf leader.
(Quaid Najmi may be reached at [email protected]
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