West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool president Mamata Banerjee spoke to beleaguered Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday evening, paving the way for a joint Opposition protest in Parliament over the crisis in the southern State.
After the conversation between the two leaders, the Trinamool worked the phones to call other parties to arrange for a joint protest. It was attended by the Samajwadi Party, the CPI(M), the CPI, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and others.
Armed with posters that said “Stop bulldozing state government” and “BJP killing democracy”, the Opposition leaders shouted slogans against the ruling party.
“On my behalf and on behalf of my party, I am happy and indebted to all the Opposition parties who supported and protested in Parliament today for Karnataka and against the undemocratic behaviour of the BJP,” JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna said.
The Congress, the JD(S) ally in Karnataka, joined in the protest a little later. Both UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and outgoing Congress president Rahul Gandhi were present at the protest. The Congress also flagged the mass desertion of its legislators in Goa. The Congress leadership has blamed the saffron party for the desertions from its ranks in both the States.
