Mamata meets Uddhav, lauds him for doing the 'right thing'

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who on Thursday met Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, backed his stand against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, saying it's the "right thing to do".

"His political party has its own ideology. Despite being in the NDA, they are criticising (the government)... this is a big thing. What Uddhav is doing is the right thing," Banerjee told the media in Mumbai after Thackeray on Thursday afternoon called on her and discussed various issues.

Uddhav, accompanied by his son Aditya, visited the hotel in south Mumbai where Banerjee is staying and were warmly received by the Trinamool Congress chief. Later, they spent some time discussing issues of mutual interest.

"Meeting was good. It was a courteous meeting. I know them very well. Even when demonetisation started, when we met President of India, he (Uddhav) sent his representative. We discussed about demonetisation, GST, present situation of fixed deposits. We discussed about the common people," Banerjee said.

Asked about her party's plans on the Gujarat Assembly elections on December 9 and 14, she said her party will not contest but only try to tell people not to vote for the BJP.

"The entire country is unhappy (post demonetisation). We had first warned about demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST... the common man is suffering. We are trying to go to Gujarat. We are supporting (the common man in) Gujarat... about a lakh of people in Surat have lost their jobs.

"Even people in Mumbai told us about their problems. We are not contesting the election in Gujarat but whoever is contesting the polls, we will tell people not to vote for the BJP. We don't support them... that (our stand) is ideologically backed," she said.

Incidentally, both the Shiv Sena, which is a partner in the NDA government at the centre and the state, and the Trinamool are at daggers drawn with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on a variety of issues including demonetisation and GST implementation.

Banerjee is in Mumbai since Tuesday for a meeting with top industrialists and bankers for the upcoming fourth Bengal Global Business Summit scheduled in Kolkata on January 16-17.

--IANS

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