INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee template for the opposition in the 2019 elections to put up a united front against the BJP is facing
And it is on her home turf
On Wednesday, Ms Banerjee appeared to lose her temper with the Congress and the Left parties that have joined the BJP to accuse Trinamool
cadres of violence ahead of panchayat elections."We want one to one fight against BJP, because it is a communal party
CPI-M and the Congress also say the same thing
But in Bengal, they are together
They are three brothers here
Does that mean they (Congress and CPI-M) don't consider BJP in Bengal as communal They should clarify" Ms Banerjee told reporters as she
walked out of her office, seething."Congress, rather than fighting (Narendra) Modi and Amit Shah, tied up with the BJP here
They should first answer people how they have joined forces with the BJP overnight here," the Trinamool Congress president said, complaining
that the Congress appeared to be on the same side as the BJP in Bengal
"Outside Bengal, they are fighting the BJP
How come is that possibleMs Banerjee had spent several days in Delhi last month to meet opposition leaders to discuss the opposition
strategy to stop the BJP's march in the 2019 General elections.She had, inspired by the success of the Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadav tie-up in
Uttar Pradesh, suggested that if the opposition were to support a single candidate in a seat, the BJP didn't stand a chance
Ms Banerjee had made this suggestion to the Congress too and word is, Mrs Sonia Gandhi also was open to this idea.Rahul Gandhi, the Congress
president appeared to also back this strategy and recently told reporters that there was no way PM Narendra Modi could return to power if
opposition parties agreed to unite.Ms Banerjee had hoped this understanding would ensure that the two opposition parties do not gang up with
the BJP, particularly when it was leading a sustained and according to her, a misleading, campaign that claims people weren't able to file
their nomination.She said the opposition has put up 90,000 candidates for the 58,000-odd panchayat seats."The opposition could not file
nominations in some seats because they lack people, lack a tight organisation
Moreover, many seats have been reserved for Scheduled castes, tribes and Other Backward Classes
It is difficult to find the right candidates for these seats," she said at the state secretariat Nabanna.In 2003, the Trinamool Congress had
contested only 30,000 of the 58,000 seats
In 2008, her party could put up only 35,000 candidates, she said, to make the point that the number of nominations wasn't as low as it was
