Banerjee to meet DMK leaders in Chennai to form Federal Front

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 2

Taking forward her initiative to form a Federal Front  consisting of opposition parties against the BJP for the 2019 General Election, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC president Mamata Banerjee will visit Chennai from April 10-11 to meet DMK chief MK Stalin and the party patriarch M Karunanidhi.

During her proposed meeting, she will raise the issue of marginalisation of states by the NDA regime, and the consequent attack on federation structure.

Banerjee, who is trying to emerge as a rallying point for Opposition unity and to build proposed  anti-BJP front, wants to take the DMK on board on the issue of Centre making 2011 Census as the reference for the 15th Finance Commission.

The TMC’s case is that five states, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh stand to lose on financial allocation from the Centre if the 2011 was taken as base here for reference point for the Commission. West Bengal will lose Rs 20,000 crore over five years.

TMC spokespersons and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said that the Centre fixed 2011 as the base year without consulting the states.

He further said that the states which worked hard to stabilise population growth will be losers.

“The unilateral decision is against the spirit of federalism. The states are being run roughshod by the NDA government,” Brien said.

Last week Banerjee held high-voltage meetings in the national capital with senior leaders in the Opposition spectrum, including Sonia Gandhi and NCP strongman Sharad Pawar, and leaders of the Shiv Sena, an ally of the NDA, to explore the possibility of the anti-BJP front.