Mamata Banerjee in Delhi today, will meet Opposition leaders, likely to meet PM Modi

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be in Delhi from today to November 25 (Thursday), with the winter session of the Parliament scheduled to take off from November 29.

Banerjee is expected to meet Opposition party leaders to work out strategies against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming Parliament session in which the repeal of the farm laws will be the main focus. The three farm laws – passed last year amidst resistance from the Opposition parties – has led to massive protests across the country. On November 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the laws would be repealed. The formal repeal of the laws will take place in the coming session. Mamata Banerjee had tweeted “heartfelt congratulations to every single farmer”, and offered condolences to the families of farmers who died and criticised the BJP for the “cruelty” towards the protesters.

Meanwhile, the situation in Tripura is volatile as Trinamool youth leader Saayoni Ghosh was arrested in the state on Sunday evening, and the party has alleged that “BJP goons” attacked Trinamool workers and supporters. Some senior party leaders will go on a dharna. This issue too will figure during Banerjee’s visit to Delhi.

Apart from this, Banerjee is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Several issues are likely to be discussed during the meeting. There is the issue on the increase of jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) on which Banerjee had written to the PM last month. She said it was interfering with the country’s federal structure. The Centre has increased the BSF’s jurisdiction to 50 km from the international border in Bengal, Punjab and Assam – a move criticised severely by Punjab and Bengal. Assam is ruled by the BJP, Punjab by Congress and Bengal by the Trinamool Congress. Banerjee is also expected to take up the issue of pending dues to the state from the Centre, a matter that she has raised several times in the past.

Mamata Banerjee was in Delhi in July this year – her first visit after the landslide victory for the third time in Bengal in the April-May Assembly elections. She had met with various opposition leaders. Her speech was attended by Congress’ P Chidambaram, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi among others. She had also met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during that visit. Her talks with the Opposition leaders has been seen as finding a common platform to take on the BJP in 2024. However, in recent months, the Trinamool top leadership has been speaking against the Congress and Banerjee’s current Delhi visit may indicate the party’s stand on the Congress in the coming days. Trinamool has been trying to gain ground in other states such as Tripura and Goa where elections are scheduled in the next two years. Banerjee is being spoken of as a possible Prime Minister candidate in recent times.