Sharad Pawar dials Mamata Banerjee, plans January rally with DMK's Stalin, AAP's Kejriwal

Amid the high-pitched battle for the upcoming West Bengal polls and weeks after Telangana CM KCR called for an anti-BJP front ahead of the GHMC polls, now NCP supremo Sharad Pawar has dialled WB CM Mamata Banerjee. Sources have said that Pawar and Mamata Banerjee are planning a joint rally in January next year. CM Mamata is expected to invite DMK chief MK Stalin, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and others for the rally. This comes as TMC faced its worst exodus after several leaders joined BJP in presence of ex-BJP chief Amit Shah and a tussle of Mamata's government with Centre.  

Earlier, slamming the Home Ministry for its decision to transfer three IPS officers for Central deputation, DMK chief MK Stalin urged Prime Minister's office to immediately rescind the transfer order and called the unilateral transfer order as "autocratic and anti-federal." Similarly, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal backed his West Bengal counterpart and condemned Centre's "blatant interference" in the administration of West Bengal. Polls are due in Tamil Nadu as well, along with West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry.

READ | Trinamool 'fact-checks' Amit Shah for claiming Mamata Banerjee 'defected from Congress'

Mamata thanks CMs

Thanking other state Chief Ministers for their solidarity, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, on Sunday, lashed out at the Centre , calling it an 'attack on federalism'. Naming Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Chhatisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh and DMK chief M K Stalin, Banerjee appreciated their tweets in showing solidarity. 

READ | Mamata Vs Centre: Banerjee Thanks Other State CMs For Showing 'solidarity To Federalism'

Bengal government moves SC

On Friday, the Trinamool government moved the Supreme Court over the MHA's transfer of the three IPS officers over attack on J P Nadda's convoy. The MHA had summoned the three officers  - Rajeev Mishra (ADG, South Bengal); Bhola Nath Pandey (SP, Diamond Harbour) and Praveen Kumar Tripathi (DIG, Presidency Range) over lapses in security arrangement to BJP chief J P Nadda during his visit to Bengal. The home ministry has already issued transfer letters to the three officers, asking them to join their Central postings at the earliest.

On Thursday, MHA again summoned Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay and DGP Virendra to come to Delhi for a meeting on Bengal's law and order situation. The step was taken by the Home Ministry after BJP chief JP Nadda's convoy was attacked while he was on two-day visit to West Bengal. However, the officers responded seeking a virtual meeting rather than in-person presence, after previously refusing to answer the summons.

The ruling Trinamool government has maintained that 'Under Article 312 of Constitution, the  Centre may ask for names of officers to be sent on deputation, then it is upto the state to release them or not'. The West Bengal Chief Minister has hit out at the Centre, going so far as to call it 'expansionist' and has stated that her government will not cow down.

READ | Mamata Banerjee escalates fight with Centre; moves SC over MHA's summons to 3 IPS officers

READ | DMK's Stalin wades into Centre vs Mamata govt's tussle over IPS officers' deputation