Mamata Banerjee to Visit Delhi From 22-25 Nov, Could Meet BJP MP Varun Gandhi

West Bengal CM and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is set to visit Delhi between 22 and 25 November.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee will visit Delhi between 22 and 25 November.

(Photo: The Quint)

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee is set to visit Delhi between 22 and 25 November, with the Winter Session of Parliament set to begin on 29 November.

Banerjee is likely to meet Opposition leaders to discuss the strategy to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Parliament in the upcoming session.

BJP MP Varun Gandhi is also reportedly expected to meet the TMC chief during her time in Delhi, fuelling speculation about whether he will jump ship to the TMC.

File image of BJP MP Varun Gandhi.

Recently, the BJP had dropped Varun Gandhi and his mother Maneka Gandhi from the party's national working committee.

On 20 November, Varun Gandhi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to "quash all politically motivated false FIRs against protesting farmers."

While he thanked Modi for his "large-heartedness in announcing that these three laws will be repealed", he reminded him that "more than 700 of our farmer brothers and sisters have been martyred in this movement, as they peacefully protested in extremely difficult and hostile conditions."

"I believe that if this decision had been taken earlier, all these innocent lives would not have been lost," he added.

This is the political backdrop against which Varun Gandhi's likely meeting with Mamata Banerjee is set, with him being increasingly critical of his own party and the Modi government.

Meeting With Congress on the Cards?

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during the former's trip to Delhi in July 2021.

Banerjee is also likely to visit the Congress leadership. She had met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on her previous trip to Delhi in July as well. They will be expected to discuss matters related to Opposition unity ahead of the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament and the Assembly elections early next year in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, and Manipur.

Banerjee's TMC has set up base in Goa and is going all out to woo the voters of the state ahead of the 2022 polls.