Anna Hazare endorses Mamata Banerjee

Veteran social activist Anna Hazare has endored West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Anna said that he would support Mamata Banerjee and campaign together in select seats across the country. Anna said he want to see Mamata to be India’s next Prime Minister.

Anna has also ruled out possibility of backing AAP chef Arvind Kejriwal or BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for the next general elections.

“I won’t support Narendra Modi or Arvind Kejriwal, I will do what I can for the betterment of nation,” Hazare told reporters.

When asked why he supports Mamata, the anti-graft crusader said that he had sent letters to all political parties to support 17 demands but “Only Mamata Banerjee pledged support. Arvind Kejriwal didn’t even reply.”

“I am supporting didi not because of her party, but due to her thoughts towards the country and society. For the first time, I have met a person like didi who thinks for the country and society.”

Speaking with a newspaper, Anna compared both Kejriwal and Mamata and explained why he backs Mamata.

“It is the thought that matters. I have always said, since Arvind was with me, that he believes in sacrifice and has a good character. But he is in a party now. Somewhere our paths are different. He has strength, and so does Mamata. She’s a Chief Minister, but she still lives in her father’s small house. She did not take a government bungalow or car. She wears hawai chappals and a simple sari, and travels 8-10 kilometres inside villages. These kind of people can make a difference to the country,” he said.

Visibly happy Mamata Banerjee said she is ready to offer herself to the country.

 “I came to Delhi only to meet Anna. I do not have anything. I can offer myself to the country.”

Lashing out at UPA, Mamata said, “Is the centre’s job only to collect tax or unleash CBI and intimidate people? The centre should not behave like a feudal landlord.”

Mamata has also predicted a lowly 60 seats for the Congress and 150 for the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Rejecting the idea of Third Front, Mamata Banerjee said, “Third front has totally failed… The next government will be a (Trinamool-backed) federal front government… not NDA or UPA.”

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