It seems West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is following in the footsteps of Narendra Modi. In 2013, before Modi was made the BJP's candidate for prime minister, legal luminary Ram Jethmalani swung into action and held a whirlwind dialogue with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to promote the then Gujarat chief minister as the prime ministerial candidate in 2014.
Despite resistance from the L.K. Advani camp, the BJP sidelined its patriarch to nominate Modi as its prime ministerial candidate.
Jethmalani has fallen out with Modi since then and the country's 'senior-most' advocate loses no opportunity to criticise Modi despite his advanced age. On Tuesday, Banerjee, who has reached Delhi, is all set to meet Jethmalani at his Delhi residence. Officially, the Trinamool Congress said that Banerjee would meet Jethmalani to discuss the NRC draft issue in Assam. Banerjee is also scheduled to meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday.
A senior source, however, confirmed to THE WEEK that the Banerjee-Jethmalani meeting would have a political dimension. The source said, "Yes, she is going to hold a meeting with Jethmalani. Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha would also be present in the meeting."
So, is it the Sinha duo, both bitter critics of Modi, that has arranged the meeting between Jethmalani and Banerjee?
The answer appears to be yes. Both Sinhas share a close bond with Jethmalani and all three used to be in the cabinet of Atal Behari Vajapyee. Incidentally, Banerjee herself used to be a minister intermittently in Vajpayee's government.
Jethmalani is expected to initiate talks with Hindu groups connected to the RSS and also talk to other political parties like the Shiv Sena, NCP and even some Congress leaders, with whom he maintains cordial ties. All attempt would be made to accept Banerjee as a prime ministerial candidate ahead of the 2019 election.
Banerjee has reached Delhi despite her scheduled address at St Stephen's College in Delhi being cancelled. Banerjee would also visit senior MPs of many political parties and has asked her party MPs to protest vehemently in Parliament on the NRC draft, which has excluded 40 lakh people, arguably reducing them to non-citizens.