West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said her next political move would be to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power.
“I have only one thing to say: Modi has to be removed from power,” the Trinamool Congress chairperson said when asked by journalists what role she wants to play in national politics.
Ever since the West Bengal Assembly polls, where the Trinamool Congress defeated the BJP and retained power, questions on what role she will play in national politics have been posed to Ms. Banerjee.
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Meets farm leaders
During the day, she met leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), including Rakesh Tikait, at the State Secretariat and extended support to the farmers’ union protesting against the three Central farm Bills. She would write to the Chief Ministers of the Opposition-ruled States to support the cause of farmers, she stated.
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SKM leaders said that having defeated the BJP, Ms. Banerjee should strive to make West Bengal a model State for farmers.
Ms. Banerjee said, “We have been supporting the protesting farmers from the start. We also passed a resolution in the Assembly against the Bills”.
Farm leaders requested her to visit Delhi after the COVID-19 situation improves.
The Chief Minister said she would take the initiative so that she could have a meeting with the Chief Ministers of the Opposition-ruled States on the issue. Why the Centre was not holding talks with the protesting farmers for the past seven months, she asked.
Former Union Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Yashwant Sinha said the Centre was trying to hand over traditional agriculture to corporates. “If traditional agriculture is dismantled, India will cease to be India.”
GST on COVID-19 vaccines
The Chief Minister also took on the Centre on GST on COVID-19 vaccines. “Imposing GST on vaccines is like playing with the life and death of people,” she said. Why vaccines were not routed through States, she asked.
It was a “dirty drive against the State government”, she alleged. “Why is Mr. Modi eager to take credit? It was before the Bihar polls that the government promised free vaccine... what happened after that,” she asked.