Patna: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti reached Bihar’s Patna on Thursday to take part in the meeting of opposition leaders scheduled a day later.
The Trinamool Congress chief was accompanied by the West Bengal Chief Minister's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, an MP. She took no queries from reporters at the airport, and waved at them from inside her car. She drove straight to the 5, Desh Ratna Marg residence of Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, where she is also likely to meet his father and RJD president Lalu Prasad.
The West Bengal Minister asserted that opposition leaders were gathering in Patna to fight the BJP together, "like a family". She was talking to reporters outside the residence of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, where she met his father and RJD president Lalu Prasad. "We have come here as we will fight together, we will fight like a family," she said.
The meet that might be a crucial one just ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections next year, is being hosted in Bihar by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Several prominent Opposition leaders are expected to attend the meeting.
BSP supremo Mayawati on Thursday termed the meeting organised by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as more about shaking hands than joining hearts. Mayawati has not been invited for the opposition meeting on Friday, with JDU chief spokesperson K C Tyagi saying, "We have invited those parties that are willing to fight against the BJP in 2024."
"The BSP says it will not become a part of the alliance, then why should we waste our invitation," he told PTI. Targeting the parties slated to participate in the meeting, Mayawati said it does not seem from their attitude that they are serious about their objective in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the AAP will walk out of Friday's meeting if the Congress does not promise its support against the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi, party sources said.
