Mamata Banerjee says 'no ego clash' regarding a grand alliance of anti-BJP parties

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after holding a brief meeting with her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday, said there is "no ego clash" regarding a grand alliance of anti-BJP parties and it will be the people versus BJP in India's general elections next year. 

She asserted that she had previously said she had no problem with the like-minded opposition parties coming together for the crucial election contest, reports NDTV.

"I have made just one request to Nitish Kumar. Jayaprakash (Narayan) ji's movement started from Bihar. If we have an all-party meeting in Bihar, we can then decide where we have to go next. 

"But first, we have to give a message that we are united. I have said earlier, too, that I have no objections. I have always reiterated that BJP should be brought to zero. They have become huge heroes with the help of media, and the fake narratives that they push day-in, day out. All they indulge is in jumlas and goondaism," Mamata said while addressing the media with the two top Bihar leaders by her side.

On the proposed one-seat-one-candidate formula floated by Nitish Kumar's party, she said that "if thought, vision, and mission are clear, there will be no issues".

Calling it a "very positive discussion", Nitish Kumar said they discussed making all preparations ahead of the upcoming elections.

He said, "Those who are ruling now, have nothing to do. They are just doing their own publicity. Nothing is being done for the nation's development." 

On a mission to bring together opposition parties who have no love lost for Congress, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier reached the West Bengal state secretariat in Kolkata to meet Mamata in his push to forge a grand alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav are later scheduled to fly to Lucknow to meet Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Both Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party have not been keen on sharing space with the grand old party.

Akhilesh Yadav has made it clear that he has no interest in a front that includes the Congress -- attending a few meetings with like-minded opposition parties, including Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. He had not pulled punches either after crashing in the 2017 polls, which he contested in alliance with the Congress.

Mamata Banerjee hasn't held back from attacking Congress either, especially since the party snatched an assembly seat from her party in the recent by-elections in the state.

Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP recently precipitated a rare show of unity across Opposition parties, after which efforts to unite against the BJP picked pace with the meeting between Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, and Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav. 

Nitish Kumar has also met with Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party boss Arvind Kejriwal, one of the harshest critics of Congress, who conceded that it was "extremely necessary" that the entire opposition and the country came together and change the government at the Centre.

Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United (JDU) has proposed what they call the "Nitish formula" of opposition unity, sources say.