Amid Assam NRC draft row, Mamata Banerjee meets top politicos in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Amid the intense political debate over Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) and calls for a united Opposition against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee met several top political leaders in Delhi on Wednesday. 

Mamata who's one four-day visit to the national capital is reaching out to political parties to forge an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) front for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

 

Early on Wednesday, Mamata caught up veteran BJP leader L K Advani at his chamber in Parliament on Wednesday. The meeting lasted for 20 minutes. 

"I know Advaniji for a very long time. I went to enquire about his health. It was a courtesy call," Banerjee said after the meeting.

#WATCH: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee meets senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani in Parliament. #Delhi pic.twitter.com/5YbkKDUXj3 — ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2018

The WB Chief Minister also met suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad, Congress leaders Gulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel, and Samajwadi Party leaders Ram Gopal Yadav and Jaya Bachchan. 

"Her efforts to unite opposition leaders are commendable," Azad said after the meeting. 

Speaking on Assam NRC draft, Mamata said, “I have urged Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha as well to send a team to Assam to check the reality of National Register of Citizens (NRC).” 

Mamata is expected to meet more leaders of Opposition, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and few NDA allies in Parliament later in the day. 

The TMC chief is inviting the Opposition for a mega anti-BJP rally to be held in Kolkata on January 19 next year. The Kolkata rally is expected to help Mamata emerge as the pivot of opposition efforts to dislodge the Narendra Modi government. 

Mamata Banerjee and BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday engaged in a heated exchange of words over the future of nearly 40 lakh people in the state. 

"They are trying to divide people. There will be bloodbath a civil war in the country," she was quoted as saying by PTI at an event in Delhi. 

"Only to win polls, people can't be victimised. Don't you think people who's name isn't in list will lose a part of their identity? Please understand India-Pakistan-Bangladesh were one before partition. Whoever came from Bangladesh to India till March 1971 is an Indian citizen." 

Responding to Mamata's accusations, Shah said, "I was listening to Mamata ji before coming here. The threat of civil war has already once divided this country. What is she trying to say? Trinamool Congress should come forward and clear its stand. By encouraging infiltrators, how can we ensure security at the borders and internal security of the nation? I firmly believe NRC Assam is for the security of the country. We will fully implement SC's judgement on it. No one should do vote-bank politics on the matter."