Mamata Banerjee hails Rahul Gandhi for putting BJP on backfoot,
 Reveals ‘key’ to beet PM Modi
FinancialExpress 2017-12-12 15:25:08
Ahead of Gujarat elections results, Congress President Rahul Gandhi got a big boost from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Backing the newly-elevated Congress president, Banerjee said that irrespective of the result in Gujarat, the Congress had won by putting the BJP on the backfoot, reported the Indian Express. While keeping an eye on 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the CM is digging deep to bid farewell to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by pushing all the Opposition parties to work together. As per the report, Banerjee has said that ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the strategy should be to pit the PM Narendra Modi led BJP against all Opposition parties, including Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP in each seat.
Rahul Gandhi was elected the Congress president unopposed on Monday. While communicating to Gandhi last week after his ascension as president was announced, the TMC supremo told him that irrespective of the result in Gujarat — the Congress had emerged victorious by putting the BJP on the backfoot. She said that Rahul Gandhi’s campaign had succeeded in exposing the hollowness of the BJP’s governance and the Opposition needed to build on that. Rahul Gandhi responded and said that he respected her advice.
Banerjee also said that the strategy for the Opposition needed to be to ensure that the BJP was fighting against one candidate in each seat, wherein the Opposition pits candidates on the basis of the strength of the regional party in the area. Where Congress is strong, all Opposition regional parties need to support the Congress and vice-versa. This, she said, was key.
Earlier too, Banerjee had laid out her Opposition coordination plan to ensure the BJP gets a “farewell” in 2019. “All regional parties must lead their regions. And the Congress from the Centre must help the regional parties. Where the Congress is strong, we will help them. Where the regional parties are strong, then the Congress is to help. That should be the policy,” she had said.
A number of potential sites for future meetings had been discussed in August when Mamata raised the issue. A source was quoted as saying, "She suggested that these meetings should take place once again."