Mamata meets Sonia; discusses political situation, Pegasus
Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Jul, 2021 01:43 PM
New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday met interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi here and discussed the current political situation in the country as well as the Pegasus snoogate row.
Former Congress President and Sonia Gandhi's son, Rahul Gandhi, was also present during the meeting.
The meeting was held at Sonia Gandhi's residence at 10 Janpath here.
After the meeting, Banerjee said that she was invited for tea by the Congress chief and that Rahul Gandhi was also present there.
"We discussed the current political situation, Pegasus and the Covid condition, besides discussing opposition unity," Banerjee said.
The West Bengal Chief Minister also termed the meeting as positive, saying that the results will be seen in the coming days.
She said the Pegasus spyware row was also discussed in the meeting, and asked why the government is not responding to the alleged snooping charges.
"If the Pegasus issue is not discussed in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, where will it be discussed? The government should answer," she said.
Talking about opposition unity, the Trinamool Congress supremo said, "Everyone has to come together to defeat the BJP. Alone, we (Trinamool) are nothing; everyone has to work together."
Asked if she would be the face of the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Banerjee said, "I am not a leader, I am a worker. I am a person from the streets. All the opposition parties will sit together and decide who will lead the fight against (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi.
"I want to see 'sachche din, bahut achche din dekh liya' (I want to see truthful days, seen enough of good days). Now ‘khela' (game) will happen in the whole country."
Later on Wednesday evening, Banerjee is expected to meet Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
On Tuesday, she had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the meeting, Banerjee had said, "It was a courtesy meeting. I told the Prime Minister about the need for more vaccines and medicines in West Bengal. I also raised the pending issue of change of name of the state, to which the Prime Minister said he will see."
On Tuesday, she had also met Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Anand Sharma, among others.
A swarm of locusts on Wednesday and Thursday devastated crops in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadhra district, which shares borders with Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. The pest has damaged crops in six states, leading to the Centre issuing a locust warning to 16 states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 1,500 crore for the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal and Odisha, and assured the states of more support after conducting separate aerial surveys with chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik on Friday.
US President Donald Trump tweeted that the US would donate ventilators to India in the fight against COVID-19. "We stand with India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during this pandemic,".
Fugitive liquor lord Vijay Mallya Thursday lost his application to appeal against extradition proceedings in the England Supreme Court, setting off the 28-day “mandatory period” for the 64-year-old businessman to be extradited to India on charges of fraud and money laundering related to unrecovered loans to his now non existent Kingfisher Airlines.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 270 billion dollar package to tackle the impact of coronavirus and weeks of lockdown. India would not be controlled by the virus, he said, also announcing "lockdown 4" after May 17 in a "completely different form", with new rules.
Heartfelt messages and prayers pour in for former Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, 87, who had undergone a heart surgery, had agreed to advise Punjab Government on ways to cope with the economic and humanitarian crisis in the wake of the pandemic. He complained of chest pain on Sunday evening and was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. (AIIMS)
