New Delhi: On Sunday, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said that along with Chandrababu Naidu, Kumaraswamy and Pinarayi Vijayan, she had asked PM Modi to resolve the ‘problems of Delhi government’. She is currently in Delhi along with the others attending the NITI Aayog’s fourth general council meeting.
She tweeted: “I along with the Hon’ble CMs of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala have requested Hon’ble PM today to resolve the problems of Delhi government immediately.”
Yesterday, the four of them rallied behind their Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, who has been protesting at the Raj Niwas for six consecutive days demanding that the “strike” by bureaucrats in the city be called off.
At the press conference at Kejriwal’s residence, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asked the Centre to resolve the “crisis” immediately.
The open support to Kejriwal by the four chief ministers assume significance as it comes amidst efforts by leading opposition parties to cobble together a rainbow coalition ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The press conference in support of Kejriwal by the four major regional players came a day after the Congress fielded former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Delhi Congress President to attack Kejriwal for his protest, reflecting a clear divide among opposition parties on the issue.
The show of support to Kejriwal by Kumaraswamy, who heads a coalition government with the Congress in Karnataka, is at variance with the stand taken by the grand old party on the issue, in an indication that the regional party will not hesitate to take a different stand on important issues. “We came here to show our support to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. We demand that the prime minister interferes and takes necessary steps to solve the problem,” Kumaraswamy said.