DMK endorses Mamata Banerjee's efforts to bring parties in 'federal co-operation' against BJP

Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s principal Opposition party DMK on Wednesday said it “endorsed,” the efforts of West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to bring together various parties against the BJP. “DMK has always stood for the unity of regional parties and stronger federal co-operation,” DMK working president MK Stalin said in a tweet. [caption id=“attachment_3693129” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of DMK working president MK Stalin. PTI[/caption] “I endorse the efforts of @MamataOfficial to bring together various political parties to oppose the autocratic and anti-democratic rule of the BJP,” he said. Responding, Mamata tweeted saying,“Thank you. We extend our full support.” For the DMK, Congress party is a key ally in Tamil Nadu and have faced several polls together in the past. Mamata Banerjee, who has been working on the idea of a “third front,” against the BJP, recently said the Congress had to decide whether it should join her party-led federal front. The West Bengal chief minister had asked it to toe its “one-on-one fight,” line in all the states. According to her, the formula meant nominating one candidate on behalf of the Opposition against the BJP. West Bengal Congress president Adhir Chowdhury, however, has maintained that an anti-BJP front in the country “can succeed only under party president Rahul Gandhi’s leadership”. Chowdhury claimed that Banerjee was trying to project herself as a pan-India leader. On 23 March, Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi got elected to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal with the support of the Trinamool Congress.