West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday, 1 February, said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is "our main enemy" and that all political parties should come together to oust the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"We want all regional parties to come together and defeat the BJP in 2024. We want everybody to come together and fight against the BJP and defeat it. Our motto is the BJP has to be defeated. If we can defeat CPI(M) in West Bengal, we can also defeat BJP nationally," Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Addressing a party meeting in Kolkata after being re-elected unopposed as the chairperson of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Banerjee said that the TMC will lend its support to the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, and that the TMC would also contest from UP in 2024.
“I am going to Uttar Pradesh on February 8. We are supporting Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party leader) in the assembly polls. We have set up a unit there. We will contest seats in the Lok Sabha polls (in 2024).”Mamata Banerjee, as quoted by The Hindustan Times
Banerjee is slated to campaign for the SP in the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, SP vice-president Kiranmay Nanda had indicated in January. The TMC will not itself be contesting the polls in the state.
As per Nanda, Banerjee will conduct virtual campaigns along with SP president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow and Varanasi.
“She will be in Lucknow on 8 February and attend a virtual campaign. She will then hold a joint press conference with Akhilesh ji,” Nanda had said, as per PTI.
Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in seven phases, beginning 10 February.
SP chief Yadav will contest the elections from the Karhal constituency in Mainpuri district.
(With inputs from PTI and Hindustan Times.)
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