After arriving in Mumbai on November 30, Mamata Banerjee visited Siddhivinayak temple in Dadar and took Lord Ganesha's blessings. Pic/PTI
She also paid homage to 26/11 martyr Tukaram Ombale, who lost his life, fighting terrorists in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Later, Mamata met Shiv Sena leaders Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut. The meeting was seen as an outreach to fellow opposition leaders by the Trinamool Congress supremo. Mamata was scheduled to meet Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier but due to him being unwell (Thackeray got discharged from hospital on December 2), she couldn't meet him. Aaditya also gave her a copy of a coffee- table book of his father's photographs. Pic/PTI
On December 1, the West Bengal CM met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at his residence in Mumbai. Mamata discussed the strategy for all opposition parties to take on the BJP unitedly in the next elections. She also took an apparent dig at Congress and said there is no UPA left now.
Pawar, too, agreed with Mamata on opposition parties uniting to take on BJP. 'We discussed the prevailing situation and the need for all like-minded parties to come together and provide a strong alternative to the BJP," the NCP chief said. Leadership is not an issue at this point. We need to unitedly work against the BJP,' said Pawar.
The TMC supremo also interacted with members of civil society members on December 1. Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, lyricist Javed Akhtar, actors Shatrughan Sinha, Richa Chaddha, besides Swara Bhaskar, comedian Munawar Faruqui, and Sudheendra Kulkarni among others were present at the event. Mamata lashed out at BJP for its anti-people policies and termed the ruling dispensation as 'cruel' and 'undemocratic'. Pic/PTI
ADVERTISEMENT
