AAP backs Mamata, says opposition unity is need of the hour

AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal shares a good rapport with his West Bengal counterpart.

New Delhi, Jul 5: The Aam Aadmi Party on Wedenesday came out in support of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying the governor's role was part of the BJP's larger design to "destabilise" governments in non-BJP states.

Senior AAP leader Ashutosh said West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi "deliberately insulting and threatening" Banerjee establishes that the Raj Bhavans were being remote- controlled by the Centre.

"Mamata Banerjee is no ordinary politician. The governor's words violated the constitutional decorum. He has threatened an elected chief minister. This is not a good sign for the country's democracy," he said in a press conference.

Referring to the crisis over three nominated MLAs in Puducherry and the arrest of a few Dalit activists in Lucknow recently, he stressed that opposition unity is the "need of the hour", to tide over the "crisis assailing the country".

AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal shares a good rapport with his West Bengal counterpart. In the recent times, the two leaders have shared dais in protest against demonetisation.

In 2015, the AAP had organised a conclave on cooperative federalism in Delhi. But only Banerjee and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had attended it while Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Mizoram's Lal Thanhawlal and Puducherry's N Rangaswamy had sent letters of support.

Asked whether the AAP was planning to form a platform for opposition parties, Ashutosh said it is time that other parties realise what AAP has faced.

"Now, other parties are also facing the heat. This is also a lesson for the Congress. The issue is saving democracy in the country," he said.

Yesterday, against the backdrop of a violence in Basirhat in West Bengal, Banerjee accused Tripathi of "threatening" her over phone and talking "big on the law and order". She had said that he was acting like a "BJP block president".

PTI