Bangalore: Mamata Banerjee played a key role in ensuring the Aam Aadmi Party’s participation at the July 17-18 meeting of 24 Opposition parties convened by the Congress in Bangalore, a source told The Telegraph.
“Didi acted as a bridge between the Congress and the AAP to ensure the presence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, at what will be the second unity meeting of the Opposition parties. The AAP leaders have promised their presence and this is a big relief,” the source said.
The past few days had witnessed intense speculation about the AAP’s possible participation given the party’s perception that the Congress has not been vocal enough against the central ordinance that wrested back control of Delhi’s bureaucracy from the state government.
At the first unity meeting in Patna on June 23, Kejriwal had accused the Congress of dithering on making itsopposition to the ordinance clear.
The Delhi chief minister had kept away from a joint news conference held in Patna after the meeting. He and his party colleagues had made it clear that they would not be part of any joint initiative with the Congress unless it unequivocally opposed the ordinance.
“As the much-awaited statement was not coming from the Congress, the possibility of the AAP’s participation at the second unity meeting was getting thinner. So, Didi intervened and spoke to the Congress leadership about the urgent need for a statement on this issue,” a source close to Mamata said.
A Congress statementon Sunday afternoon saying it would oppose the ordinance in Parliament and the AAP reaction — Raghav Chadha announcing the party’sparticipation at the unity meeting — came as a reliefto Mamata.
The Bengal chief minister thanked both sides for showing the flexibility necessary for the “larger cause” of a united fight against the BJP in next year’s general election, a source said.
“As she has good personal equations with Sonia, Kejriwal and several others, it’s easy for her to play a constructive role. She has defused a potential crisis ahead of the Bangalore meeting.”
Dinner miss
Sources close to Mamata said she would not attend Monday’s dinner, hosted by Sonia, because of the injury she had suffered recently when a chopper carrying her made an emergency landing.
“She will be at the evening get-together but will skip the dinner as doctors have advised her to rest her injured leg,” a source said.
Mamata, a frugal eater, does not generally eat at social dos. “She didn’t eat at the lunch Nitishji had hosted in Patna as she was fasting that day,” the source said.
