West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will visit New Delhi in the middle of the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament that begins on July 19. The decision to visit the national capital was taken a day after her meeting with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.
The visit assumes significance as her poll adviser Prashant Kishor met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi at the former party president’s residence in Delhi on Tuesday. Following the meeting, speculations of a grand alliance against Modi ahead of the 2024 general elections have surfaced.
It is learnt that Banerjee will visit a number of opposition leaders during her stay at the national capital. She might also call on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. While the visit to Shah would be to discuss various political developments in the state, Banerjee would press for financial demands of the state during her meeting with Sitharaman. On the other hand, Rajnath and Banerjee are known to maintain a cordial relationship between them.
The West Bengal chief minister is expected to visit Delhi after observing her party’s martyr’s day on July 21. However, no appointment has yet been fixed in Delhi.
It is also not confirmed if Banerjee would meet Rahul Gandhi who would be in attendance in Parliament during the monsoon session, which is set to table a number of bills.
Sources have confirmed that during the hour-long meeting with the governor on Wednesday, Banerjee dwelt on passing of West Bengal legislative council bill in Parliament. The resolution was passed in the West Bengal assembly and is awaiting the governor signature, after which it would be taken up by the Union home minister for consideration. Banerjee requested the governor to speed up the process.
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She also reportedly raised the issue of "harassment" of her key partymen and close associates by "a central investigating agency”. However, neither the chief minister nor the Raj Bhavan has commented on the same.
Meanwhile, the constitution of a legislative council has become a major issue in Bengal as not only the chief minister’s, but finance minister Amit Mitra's future is also hanging in the balance. If not elected, both Banerjee and Mitra will have to resign by November 4. The TMC party delegation led by MP Saugata Roy will meet the chief election commissioner this evening to demand holding of by-elections in Bengal.
Sources also confirmed that in case the election is not held on time, Banerjee would resign and then would advise the governor to deliver the oath so that she would get another six months. However, the key question is if Dhankhar would accept the advice since the Indian Constitution is silent on such a scenario.
Hence, her visit to Delhi will be crucial given the stalemate in Bengal. For the time being, she would like to bury the hatchet with the Central government and would try to impress Narendra Modi and Amit Shah about respecting people’s mandate and allowing her to govern the state.
However, on the side, her brigade is leaving no stone unturned to project her as the prime ministerial candidate for 2024. She is also fighting a case against the BJP on her Nandigram defeat. That, of course, is going to antagonise BJP’s top brass. It is to be seen how BJP’s national leadership responds to Banerjee’s Delhi visit.
