A day after the meeting here between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, the BJP on Wednesday alleged that the state secretariat is being used to "hatch conspiracies" against the Centre.
The allegations predictably drew a sharp retort from the ruling TMC, which dubbed the allegation as baseless and said the efforts to forge opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls have “frustrated” the saffron camp.
“The state secretariat –Nabanna, which is a government property, is being unethically used by the TMC party to hatch conspiracies against the elected government at the Centre,” Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
Kejriwal, who had come with his party comrade and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as part of a nationwide tour to garner support for his fight against the Centre's ordinance on control of services in Delhi, held a nearly hour-long meeting here with Banerjee at the state secretariat on Tuesday.
The BJP leader pointed out that not only the Delhi chief minister but the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and leaders of other political parties also had visited Nabanna and held meetings in the past to fuel the anti-BJP rhetoric.
“Can a government property be used to fuel anti-BJP rhetoric? If it was a government-to-government meeting, why was there no official announcement apart from BJP bashing?” Adhikari asked.
His remarks drew a sharp reaction from the ruling TMC, which dubbed the allegations "baseless".
“A chief minister can always meet his/her counterpart from other states. No permission is required from the Centre for it. BJP is terrified and frustrated by the efforts to forge opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
Banerjee, who is also the TMC supremo, on Tuesday assured Kejriwal that the party will support him in his fight against the central ordinance to control appointments and transfer of bureaucrats in the city-state.
Last month, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Banerjee at the secretariat to discuss various aspects of the opposition unity and she asked him to organise a meeting of the anti-BJP parties in Patna in May end. PTI PNT KK KK
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
