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.
According to data shared by South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which is the nodal agency in this regard, from January 1 to July 17 this year, 40 cases of dengue have been registered.
"In light of rumours that the Mumbai Airport HQ will be moving to Ahmedabad, we unambiguously state that MIAL and NMIAL airports will remain headquarters in Mumbai," the Adani Group said in a statement.
Even as the farmers continue their protest at the borders of Delhi against the three Central farm laws, the government has reiterated its stand that it is "always open to discussion with farmers' unions and will remain open to discussion with the agitating farmers to resolve the issue".
Upping the ante against the Modi government over the Pegasus phone tapping issue, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said that the alleged snooping on the phones of Chief Ministers, politicians, judges and people violates multiple laws of the country and is a threat to national security.
Claiming that Amnesty International is directly involved in the Pegasus "international conspiracy" to malign the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday demanded that the Central government ban the activities of the organisation in India.
