Goa polls: Not here to divide but unite anti-BJP vote, says Mamata
Addressing a rally in Benaulim, Banerjee also attacked the Congress, stating that no party had sole claim to the Opposition space
West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee on Monday raised the pitch for the upcoming Goa elections and said that her intention was not to “split the vote” against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, but rather to “unite” it.
Addressing a rally in Benaulim, Banerjee also attacked the Congress, stating that no party had sole claim to the Opposition space. “I do not want to speak against the Congress.
“You want to join, join us. Just because you (Congress) are not doing anything, no one else will do it? this is not right....If anyone wants to defeat the BJP, then it’s up to them to support us.”
During her speech, Banerjee on Monday also said that Mother Teresa was “very affectionate” towards her.
“Mother Teresa was very affectionate to me,” Banerjee said in an election rally in the Christian-dominated constituency.
“Once when the Left Front government was there (in power in West Bengal), at midnight she (Mother Teresa) rang me up and said, ‘Mamata, those leftists are capturing one house of ours. Can you help me?’ I went there and settled it and saved her,” said Bengal chief minister Banerjee, who is on a two-day tour of Goa ahead of the elections.
Lone NCP MLA joins TMC
The NCP’s lone MLA in the state, Churchill Alemao, on Monday merged the party’s legislative wing with the TMC.
“Why should I resign as MLA? I continue to be the MLA. I have merged the party’s legislative wing with the TMC,” he said. Later, Alemao joined the TMC in the presence of its Banerjee.
When contacted in Mumbai, NCP’s national spokesperson Nawab Malik told PTI over the phone that people often quit one party and join another during the election time.
“If he (Alemao) wants to go to the TMC, that is his choice. He had joined our party in the last election…How does it matter whether he resigns or not at this juncture since the polls are around the corner,” the Maharashtra minister said.
With agency inputs
