Mumbai: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her concerns over the “stability” of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA 3.0 government at the Centre and hinted that it may not last long in power, here on Friday.
“This (Central) government is not stable… is not strong. It may not continue also …My best wishes to them,” said Banerjee in a brief media interaction.
She was in Mumbai for a two-day visit when she individually called on Shiv Sena (UBT) President and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and later Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar at their homes.
To a query, Mamata Banerjee said that during the last Lok Sabha elections, in one particular constituency in the city (referring to Mumbai North West), the winning margin was only 48 votes.
“They have done like this in many other areas… otherwise this time (2024) they would not have come (to office), I am sure of that…” she said.
Her first port of call was at the Thackeray family’s Bandra home ‘Matoshri’, where she also exchanged pleasantries with Uddhav’s wife Rashmi Thackeray and their sons Aditya, MLA and Tejas, a naturalist.
Thackeray, who described her as ‘my sister’, said this was a family visit and urged the media to keep politics out of it, but promised that “we shall hold a separate press conference and brief you on all this.”
Later, Mamata Banerjee went to meet Pawar at his south Mumbai residence where NCP (SP) Working President Supriya Sule was also present, though details of what transpired among them were not immediately available.
This was Mamata Banerjee’s first meeting with both Thackeray and Pawar in Mumbai after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and she is likely to meet Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders who are expected to attend the wedding in the Ambani family tonight.
She is known to enjoy a close personal rapport with Pawar Sr. and Thackeray – all constituents of the Opposition INDIA bloc – and makes it a point to meet them whenever she comes to Maharashtra.
–IANS