New Delhi: After reaching out to regional satraps DMK's MK Stalin and TRS' K Chandrasekhar Rao to push for an anti-BJP alliance, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought to exclude the Congress from any such potential formation. The TMC supremo said no regional outfit shared cordial relations with the grand old party and "Congress can go its own way".


Banerjee approached her Telangana and Tamil Nadu counterparts on Sunday to set up meetings with chief ministers of Opposition-ruled states, PTI reported.


"The country's federal structure has been bulldozed...the country's Constitution is being demolished. We all need to come together to protect it," Mamata Banerjee said on Monday after TMC swept polls to four municipal corporations.


While referring to her telephone calls with Rao and Stalin, Banerjee said, "Together we are trying to protect the federal structure. All regional parties must come to an understanding."


Banerjee, who has stepped up her attempts to establish an opposition coalition after falling out with the Congress, said no regional outfit was on friendly terms with the grand old party.


"The Congress can go its way, we will go ours," she asserted. However, in Tamil Nadu, Congress is an alliance partner of the DMK.


Rao said on Sunday that he would meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the TMC supremo shortly after receiving a call from Banerjee as part of the efforts to unite various political parties against the BJP.


"Mamata Behen (Mamata Banerjee) called me. We had a discussion over the phone. She invited me to Bengal or she’ll come to Hyderabad. She said mujhe dosa khilao. I said most welcome. She may come any time. We are discussing. There are so many political leaders across the nation," Rao said.


Mamata Shared Her Concern Over Bizare Misuse Of Power By Governor: MK Stalin


Mamata Banerjee and Stalin, who previously have complained over the actions of governors of their respective states (Jagdeep Dhankhar and R N Ravi), also spoke on Sunday.


Taking to Twitter after his conversation with Banerjee, Stalin said, "Beloved Didi Mamata Banerjee telephoned me to share her concern and anguish on the Constitutional overstepping and brazen misuse of power by the Governors of non-BJP ruled states."






"She suggested for a meeting of Opposition CMs. I assured her of DMK’s commitment to uphold State autonomy. Convention of Opposition CMs will soon happen out of Delhi!," he further said.


TMC Opted Not To Run In UP Elections 2022 In 'The Wider Interest': Banerjee


Banerjee, who was in Uttar Pradesh last week to campaign for the Samajwadi Party (SP), said TMC opted not to contest in the state election in "the wider interest."


"The TMC did not field any candidate in UP as I did not want Akhilesh Yadav (SP chief) to get weak in any seat. In the first phase, I am hoping Akhilesh’s party will win 37 of 57 seats," she informed a news channel. 


The West Bengal chief minister also said she would again visit Uttar Pradesh to campaign for Samajwadi Party on March 3 in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency.


"The country can be saved only if UP is protected (against the BJP). If we want to defeat Narendra Modi in 2024, big states like UP and Bengal will matter the most," she said.


Hitting out at her UP counterpart Yogi Adityanath, Banerjee claimed, "Women are burnt alive and peasants get murdered in that state. The CM there is not a 'yogi' but a 'bhogi'. If India has to be saved, UP will have to be saved first." 


Banerjee said she had asked Congress and the Left to come together with other opposition parties against the BJP but they did not listen.


"It's the duty of those who claim themselves to be secular to bring everyone on one platform. I had asked Congress and the CPI(M) to join hands... If they do not listen, there is nothing that I can do," the TMC supremo said.


(With PTI Inputs)