Mamata dismisses talk of being PM candidate

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday sought to dismiss talk of her being a Prime Ministerial candidate, saying her priority was the ousting of the BJP government at the Centre for which the opposition should come together.

"I am nobody. I am a very simple worker. Let me just continue as a commoner. I want that this government must go, this BJP government. They are doing maximum political vendetta and atrocities with the people. So we want that everybody should be united. Let us work together, don't think of Prime Ministerial candidate. Think of the country," she told the media in Parliament House.

Banerjee, who has upped the ante on the issue of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, said that 40 lakh people whose names were missing from the list were the family members of this country. "They belong to various states. They are our family members. They should not tell people to go out."

Asked about BJP President Amit Shah's statement that he would be going to West Bengal to address a rally on August 11, she said: "Let him go. Let him go all the 365 days. Bengal is for everybody. Bengal welcomes everybody. It is their party problem."

In reply to a question on Shah's comment about infiltrators and her remarks about a bloodbath, the Trinamool Congress chief said: "What I am saying is that what the BJP is doing will create bloodbath. They are playing with fire."

Asked about her meetings with various political parties including BJP leader L.K. Advani, she said: "I have been a Member of Parliament for seven times. I have maintained best of relations with all. And it is a kind of courtesy meeting."

--IANS

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