Mamata meets Opposition, government allies, says 2019 would be 'interesting'

Dubbing the upcoming 2019 General Elections as one that is going to be "interesting", West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met leaders from Opposition parties, as well as government ally Shiv Sena to discuss the political situation.

Banerjee, who is in the national capital, visited Parliament on Tuesday where she met Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. She also met Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP K. Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

MPs from Biju Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and DMK also met Banerjee. who is also the Trinamool Congress chief, in the Parliament House.

"When political people meet, of course, they will discuss politics, there is nothing to hide in that. The Lok Sabha election of 2019 will certainly be very interesting," Banerjee told reporters later.

She also dubbed the ruling BJP as the "most communal party". When asked about Shiv Sena, which also supports Hindutva, she said: "No one is more communal than BJP. They talk about Hindutva, but these people (BJP), they propagate Hindutva with a pistol, they malign Hindutva".

Banerjee also called for all parties opposed to the BJP to come together in the 2019 General Elections.

"All should work together. Wherever the parties are strong, they should work with each other, like Mayawati (BSP) and Akhilesh (Yadav of SP) in Uttar Pradesh," she said.

Banerjee however could not meet Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday, as she was not well.

"Sonia ji is not well... I wanted to ask her about her health..." she said, indicating that she meet the Congress leader if her health permits.

She also said she would meet more MPs on Wednesday, including veteran BJP leaders like Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha who have been vocally opposing moves like demonetisation.

The meetings come at a time when opposition parties as well as former government ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP), have come together to move a no confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.

Banerjee is seen as a key player in a possible grouping of non-BJP political parties ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.