New Delhi sources have reported that a day before opposition parties meet in a big show of strength over lunch hosted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss a joint candidate to field for President, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has pitched for a consensus candidate one supported by both opposition parties and the government.
It was stated that Ms Banerjee had just emerged from a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one that she insisted focused "only on the development of Bengal and not on politics." Before that meeting, sources close to her said her Trinamool Congress' support will depend on who the opposition's candidate is and whether a consensus can emerge around the person's name.
Meanwhile the Congress is yet to comment on Ms Banerjee's latest stand, no
doubt a trifle nonplussed. But sources said the new Mamata Banerjee formula
will be discussed at tomorrow's lunch meeting in Parliament House. Ms Banerjee
is in Delhi primarily to attend Mrs Gandhi's lunch, which is being as a symbol
of opposition unity on the day the Modi government completes three years in
power.
Sources have also added that the West Bengal chief minister had during a visit to Delhi last week met Mrs Gandhi and reportedly backed the plan to field a joint opposition candidate to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's nominee. She had also met Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, not the best of friends with the Congress, into the Opposition initiative.
