West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee will campaign for the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, SP national vice-president Kiranmay Nanda said on Tuesday.
While Banerjee will virtually campaign for the SP in Lucknow on February 8, she may also campaign digitally in Varanasi , Nanda told reporters following his 30-minute meeting with the TMC chief at her residence in south Kolkata.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav will take part in these, and the heads of the two parties will also hold a joint press conference on February 8, he added.
Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. Counting of votes will be held on March 10.
“Akhilesh Yadav wants Mamata Banerjee to campaign for us because she is the face of the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) force at the national level,” Nanda said.
“The SP will surely form the government. The BJP has realised that its defeat is inevitable. People have been coming in large numbers whenever Akhilesh Yadav is visiting any place. In contrast, few are attending BJP meetings. The SP wants anti-BJP votes to consolidate. That’s why we did not contest any seat in Bengal last year. Likewise, Banerjee, too, does not want to contest any seat in Uttar Pradesh,” he added.
During the West Bengal assembly polls last year, Yadav had sent Nanda and Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan to campaign for the TMC.
Reacting to the SP’s announcement, state BJP chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “We wish Banerjee a happy journey. She claims to be a religious person. We are sure she will enjoy the Ganga aarti at Varanasi.”
Taking a swipe at Yadav’s remarks that Banerjee is the face of the anti-BJP force,West Bengal state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: “Banerjee is not the only face against the BJP. Nanda said that to please her. Leaders like Akhilesh Yadav and Arvind Kejriwal are also anti-BJP faces. Banerjee has at least shown some good sense by not trying to purchase BJP leaders who are abandoning their party in Uttar Pradesh to join Akhilesh. In Meghalaya and Goa, she used these tactics to weaken the Congress.”
