Mamata Banerjee to meet Sharad Pawar today, can't keep Congress out of Opposition, says Nawab Malik

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (Illustration: Moneycontrol)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to meet Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on December 1, amid TMC’s attempts to spread wings beyond West Bengal.

Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress chief who is on a three-day tour of the city will also attend a host of events, including an entrepreneur's conference. She met Shiv Sena leaders Aditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut on November 30.

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"We welcome her to Mumbai and Maharashtra. There has always been a friendship. We had met her 2-3 years ago when she visited Mumbai," Thackeray said while speaking to media persons.

Banerjee is also in Mumbai to attract investments to West Bengal and invite top industrialists to the Bengal Global Business Summit scheduled in April next year. Banerjee had last week visited Delhi and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press for various demands of the state.

Shiv Sena said in a statement that Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will not be able to meet the West Bengal CM due to his health issues.

Also, read: TMC to expand political base across Northeast ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls: Mukul Sangma

Senior NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on November 31 confirmed Banerjee’s meeting with Pawar.

“Mamata Didi is on a Maharashtra tour and she will meet Pawar Sahab tomorrow at 3 pm. It’s a goodwill visit, following which she will address the press and inform the public about the discussions,” Malik said at an event in Pune.

Banerjee’s meeting with Pawar comes in the wake of TMC’s attempts to spread wings beyond West Bengal. The outreach by party chief also comes amid strained relationship with the Congress party with a number of leaders from the grand old party switching over to the ruling party in West Bengal.

Before her Mumbai trip, Banerjee was in Delhi. Congress leaders Kirti Azad, Ashok Tanwar and former JD (U) Rajya Sabha MP Pavan Varma joined TMC during her Delhi visit. Besides this, 12 out of 17 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya defected to the TMC recently, making it the principal opposition party in the northeastern state.

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At the Pune event, however, Malik said it’s impossible to organise an Opposition to the BJP by keeping Congress out.

“TMC is expanding outside Bengal and it’s the right of every political party. However, we believe that a united Opposition front is not possible excluding Congress. Pawar sahab has clarified this several times,” said Malik, the minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Maharasthra comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress parties.