Mamata is my selected heroine: Jethmalani

Maverick lawyer and RJD's Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani has now thrown his weight behind Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, whom he described as his "selected heroine as the ruler of Indian democracy".

His declaration comes in a letter after three rebel BJP leaders - Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Shatrughnan Sinha - reached out to Jethmalani in their fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the saffron party.

In a letter to the trio, 94-year-old Jethmalani said they had demanded his cooperation in taking the place of Modi and his colleagues. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar on an RJD ticket for the sixth time in 2016.

"I am sorry I have thrown my lot and talent at the total disposal of Mamata Banerjee and she has responded beautifully to my gesture and spoken out bravely hat she would destroy the present BJP regime...I write this to make the lady of Bengal who is my selected heroine as the ruler of Indian democracy," Jethmalani, who was expelled from the BJP in 2013, said.

The letter has come as a surprise to Sinha and others. "We had been talking to Ram but no one had requested him to take the lead given his age. We had been meeting and discussing issues with him. Neither did we contradict him when he expressed support for Mamata Banerjee. So we are surprised why he wrote the letter," Sinha said.

Off late, Mamata has been positioning herself as possible face of the Opposition in the run-up to the next Lok Sabha elections.