West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not attend the INDIA bloc meeting on June 1, as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) gears up for the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Citing the ongoing elections and Cyclone Remal, which hit the state Sunday night and has left at least four dead, Banerjee said she won’t be able to attend the meeting scheduled for June 1.
Speaking at an election rally in Kolkata’s Burrabazaar on Monday, she said, “INDIA Bloc had earlier said they would hold a meeting on June 1. I told them I couldn’t go as we will still have polls here like a few other states. How could I go with cyclone relief on one side and elections on the other?”
“My priority is ensuring relief for the people. I am doing a meeting here but my heart lies with the affected people,” the TMC chief added.
Voting for the nine seats in West Bengal will take place on June 1, including two seats in Kolkata: Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar. The other constituencies going to the polls are Jadavpur, Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jayanagar, Mathurapur, and Diamond Harbour.
INDIA Bloc Meeting To Strategise Plan For Upcoming Results
Top leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc are scheduled to meet on June 1 to assess their performance in the Lok Sabha elections and strategise for the upcoming results. The meeting will be held in Delhi in the afternoon when the last phase of polling is underway.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, one of the senior-most leaders of the opposition bloc, has convened the meeting.
The opposition alliance claims it will prevent the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from returning to power at the Centre and form a government of its own.
While the TMC, which is in power in West Bengal, does not have a seat-sharing deal with the Congress or any other INDIA bloc party in their home state, its candidate Laliteshpati Tripathi in Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi has been supported by ally Samajwadi Party.
