At Didi’s swearing-in, Lalu, Abdullah talk secular front

Kolkata, May 27

Maintaining it was imperative to remove the Narendra Modi government to save India from being divided, RJD chief Lalu Prasad today called upon all secular parties to unite against the BJP and the RSS.

National Conference chief and former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah too batted for a federal front and said Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee could head such a front.They were here for the swearing-in of Mamata as CM.

“We want all the parties with similar ideologies, the secular parties, to unite. Removing the BJP and the RSS from the Centre has become imperative, so we will sit tighter and discuss about that,” Lalu told mediapersons. “If we don’t unite, the BJP and the RSS will divide the country,” he warned.

Expressing a similar view, Abdullah said there was every possibility of a federal front taking shape. “We will sit together...There is every possibility of a front shaping up that will save India from future disaster,” he said.

Asked if Banerjee could head such a front, he replied: “There are a number of people. Mamataji is also one of them. She has worked for a secular India, a united India. For the development of every individual of this nation, whether he belongs to the east or west, north or south, we all will join in that process in uniting this nation together,” he said.

Even as she described herself as a “less important person”, Banerjee extended help to all seeking her assistance. “I am a commoner, a less important person. But I will help all of them, no problem, if anybody wants my help. Let me work for the people,” said Banerjee who took over the reins of West Bengal for the second successive term. —IANS