“How can I leave everything behind and go? My priority is relief work. Even if I am holding a meeting here, my heart goes out to those people (affected by the cyclone),” Mamata Banerjee said at the Kolkata rally.
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she will not attend the meeting of the INDIA bloc on June 1 due to the last phase of Lok Sabha polls and ongoing relief work after cyclone ‘Remal’ hit the state’s coastal regions.
According to sources, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has convened a meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders in the afternoon of June 1, coinciding with the last round of polling.
Addressing an election rally in Kolkata, Banerjee mentioned her inability to attend the INDIA bloc meeting due to the scheduled elections in the state on that day.
“The INDIA bloc meeting has been fixed on June 1. But I have already said I can’t go on June 1 as there is an election in our state on that day. So far I know there are elections in Punjab, UP and Bihar. Voting will continue till 6 pm, and at times it extends beyond that (6 pm),” she said.
Banerjee highlighted the dual challenges of post-cyclone relief work and ongoing elections, emphasising her priority towards relief efforts.
“How can I leave everything behind and go? My priority is relief work. Even if I am holding a meeting here, my heart goes out to those people (affected by the cyclone),” she said at the Kolkata rally.
The TMC had withdrawn from the INDIA bloc in West Bengal in January but affirmed its commitment to remain part of the opposition alliance at the national level.
During the election campaigns in the last two months, Banerjee had expressed confidence that the INDIA bloc would win the Lok Sabha elections and affirmed her involvement in the anti-BJP alliance at the national level.
Sources in the TMC revealed that voting will be conducted on nine seats, including two seats in Kolkata, in West Bengal on June 1, which are crucial for the party.
Source link
