NCP chief Sharad Pawar with Mamata Banerjee after a meeting at his residence in Mumbai
As Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee is making political moves with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Vice President Dilip Ghosh termed her meetings with NCP leaders in Mumbai as a "show".
Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant too said that Uddhav Thackeray can also be considered as a prime ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections.
After Mamata Banerjee won the West Bengal Assembly elections by a huge margin, she is now aiming to be the face of the Opposition.
Mamata Banerjee, who is on a three-day visit to Maharashtra, met Shiv Sena leaders Sanjay Raut and Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday and met NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
"I don't think anything will happen with these meetings. How will Mamata Banerjee support Shiv Sena? What do they have there? There is a distance of 3,000 km between them. It is all a show," BJP's Dilip Ghosh said.
"It is a good thing to form a national party. But who is with her? She tried to break Congress in Tripura and bagged some votes but was not successful. It is good that she has now gone to Maharashtra, where she attempted to wash away her sins of politics of violence and murders committed in Bengal by visiting Siddhivinayak Temple," Mr Ghosh said, according to news agency ANI.
Reacting to her meetings, the BJP leader also said, "The NCP has a little problem so they might meet her. Wherever she is going, she is cutting the votes of NCP and Congress by taking their leaders on her side. The big leaders, who went to Kolkata and got a picture clicked with Mamata Banerjee, are also not meeting her now."
Shiv Sena in a statement issued on Tuesday had said that due to health issues, party president Uddhav Thackeray will not be able to meet Mamata Banerjee.
On this, the BJP leader pointed out that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal and Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi did not meet Mamata Banerjee during her recent Delhi visit, speculating that there may be a rift between them.
"Uddhav Thackeray can be ill, but what happened to Arvind Kejriwal and Sonia Gandhi? Why did they not meet Mamata Banerjee? The politics that she is doing of dominating everyone is not being liked by those who were once on her side. She may go to Goa, Uttar Pradesh or Himachal Pradesh but she will not get any benefit and neither will she be able to help anyone. In states where Congress has weakened, maybe one or two retired politicians will take her side," Mr Ghosh added.
After looting Bengal, the attempt to nationally spread TMC is not being liked by the people of Bengal," Dilip Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said, "The Opposition does not need a face to be united, ideas are needed. First, ideology should match, then anyone can be the Opposition. Uddhav Thackeray is also in people's minds. Uddhav Thackeray's name is counted in 4-5 chief ministers who are said to be good. We also feel that Uddhav Thackeray should become the Prime Minister of the country. What is wrong with it?"
"It is a good thing to meet the leaders of the country's Opposition. It is good that somebody believes there should be unity in Opposition. The Opposition is not united, thus, they (BJP) are enjoying it," Mr Sawant said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)