Mamata Banerjee urges opposition unity, calls for ‘joint platform’ against BJP after West Bengal poll defeat

NEW DELHI: Former West Bengal chief minister and All India Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday appealed to opposition parties and student unions in the state to unite against the BJP after the saffron party formed its first government in West Bengal following its decisive victory in the recently concluded assembly elections.

Addressing a small gathering outside her Kalighat residence on the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the former chief minister called for the formation of a “joint platform” against the BJP and urged student unions and NGOs opposed to the party to come together, news agency PTI reported.



“I call upon all opposition parties, including the Leftists and the ultra-Left, to come together to form a joint platform against the BJP,” Banerjee said, while also inviting national parties to join the initiative.

The All India Trinamool Congress chief said she was willing to hold talks with any political party interested in discussions on the matter. “It is not the time to think the enemy's enemy is my friend, our first enemy is the BJP,” she said.

Banerjee also alleged that TMC workers and supporters were facing attacks in different parts of the state after the declaration of the election results.

“Hooliganism is going on at places, bad elements have entered their (BJP) ranks,” she claimed, adding that her government had not allowed atrocities against anyone after coming to power in 2011.

The BJP secured 207 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly, while the TMC won 80 seats.

Earlier in the day, Suvendu Adhikari and five BJP MLAs took oath at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Grounds in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, senior BJP leaders and chief ministers from NDA-ruled states.