‘Unite against BJP’: Mamata writes to many opposition leaders

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in a letter to several non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, calling for a plan of action to be formulated against the BJP. The letter has said that the time has come for a "united and effective struggle against BJP's attacks on democracy and the constitution" and "presenting a credible alternative to the people of India". Banerjee accused the BJP and its government at the Centre of “attacking democracy and constitutional federalism in India,” citing the recently-passed Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Bill as an example. “With this law, the Lieutenant Governor Delhi has been made the undeclared Viceroy of Delhi, acting as a proxy for the home minister and the prime minister. The government has snatched away practically all the powers of the democratically elected government of Delhi,” She called the BJP's "assaults" on democracy and cooperative Federalism.

She cited six other instances to highlight her point: "Governors functioning as BJP office bearers, use of investigating agencies against opposition parties and governments, withholding transfer of funds to non-BJP states, disbanding of the National Development Council, Inter-state Council, Planning Commission; amassing of unlimited resources by the BJP to topple non-BJP governments, and the Central government's reckless policies of privatisation of national assets." The West Bengal chief minister concluded the letter stating that the battle can only be won by "presenting a credible alternative to the people of India.

The three-page letter, dated March 28, was addressed to more than a dozen non-BJP leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv sena supremo and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin, among others. The notable exclusions were CPI and CPIM, which are Ms Banerjee's traditional rivals in the state.Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Ms Banerjee had been one of the key proponents of a unified opposition to take on the BJP. But the opposition wall they were planning fell through as the leaders failed to resolve internal rivalries, especially among parties that are rivals at the state-level.