Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said she had called Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran LK Advani. At a press conference while announcing the party election manifesto, Banerjee said she had called Advani as he was a senior parliamentarian and she had known him for many years. “Really sad to see how Advaniji and Joshiji have been treated by the BJP,” she said.
“He said I am glad you called me,” Banerjee mentioned when asked how Advani had reacted on receiving her call. She said she often met Advani when she was in Delhi, and even called on him in his office chamber.
She said that though they were from opposition parties, she had great respect for the senior leaders like Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and added that the BJP had no respect for their own veteran leaders.
Both have been denied tickets by the BJP for the Lok Sabha polls this time. BJP national president Amit Shah is contesting from Advani’s winning seat, Gandhinagar. Joshi was dropped and instead Uttar Pradesh minister Satyadev Pachauri will be fielded from his winning seat Kanpur.
Banerjee had earlier too said that dropping the veterans meant insulting them, as they have done so much for the party.
She also expressed regret that Ananth Kumar’s wife was not fielded as candidate from Bengaluru South. Kumar died last year. Banerjee said she had fielded the wife of a party colleague this election after he was murdered brutally recently. “It is very natural that we have certain duties and responsibilities towards those who give so much to the party,” she said.
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