New Delhi: A day after an opposition INDIA bloc meeting was held in Delhi, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met senior Congress leader
Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence. The meeting lasted for around one hour. Notably, Banerjee met Gandhi amid the ongoing turmoil in the TMC; the dissent crept into the party's parliamentary ranks. The two leaders discussed the strategy between their parties going forward after the opposition bloc meeting, reported PTI, citing sources. The development came after Gandhi, who heads the Congress Parliamentary Party, and Banerjee shared a warm hug during the opposition bloc's meeting held here on Monday. The Congress had also shared the pictures of the bonhomie between the two leaders. Notably, this was the first closed-door meeting between Gandhi and Banerjee and the TMC's poll debacle in the recently concluded assembly elections. INDIA Bloc Meeting Decisions: On Monday, leaders of 23 opposition parties, part of INDIA bloc, met in the national capital in a deliberate show of strength. During the INDIA Bloc meeting, the opposition leaders decided to send a letter to the chief justice of India on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the alleged "vote loot" issue. The group also demanded the immediate resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-CBSE exams row. The parties have also decided to meet more often, with the next round slated for Hyderabad in August. TMC Rebellion: The crisis within the TMC deepened as senior leaders Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the rebel MPs, accusing them of lacking political morality and maintaining covert ties with the BJP. The TMC leaders' remarks come as the Mamata Banerjee-led party grapples with an escalating internal revolt, amid reports that more party MPs are considering switching allegiance to the BJP in the coming days.
On Monday, at least 20 TMC MPs submitted a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressing their desire to ally with the BJP-led NDA, news agency PTI reported, citing party lawmaker Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. The development was reported after Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Shekhar Ray resigned from the party and the Upper House.
"Nearly 20 TMC MPs, including me, have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla about our decision to support the NDA," she said, adding, "We accepted poll verdict in Bengal and believe our future political course should be aligned with the NDA."
