When Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee met in Bengaluru after two years, inquired about each other’s health

Bengaluru: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi inquired about each other’s health and strategised on opposition unity on the first day of the Bengaluru summit, sources said on Monday.

Both the leaders met each other after a gap of two years. The last time Banerjee met Gandhi was in July 2021 at his residence. While the two leaders have always had cordial relations, some comments made by Congress leaders in both Delhi and West Bengal are believed to have caused some friction between them.

Sources said Banerjee was particularly miffed over the remarks of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, Congress Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal’s Behrampore, calling her a dictator and her party’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers as goons.

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Sources said both Banerjee and Gandhi reached the summit venue around 6 pm and were seen talking to each other for about half an hour before the meeting began.

He said the two inquired about each other’s health – Banerjee is recovering from knee surgery and Gandhi also has health issues.

Sources said during the meeting that lasted for about one-and-a-half hours, the two leaders sat next to each other and discussed ways in which their parties could work together and unite against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre. Can stay

Sources said Banerjee, who did not have to attend the post-meeting dinner due to her surgery, stayed for some time after the deliberations but did not eat anything.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and national spokesperson Derek O’Brien attended the dinner after Banerjee left.
Congress and TMC will play a major role in the coming days to strengthen the opposition unity.

Gandhi did not attend the last opposition meeting held in Patna on 23 June.