Just days left for the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that she wants Samajwadi Party to win in the elections.
Notably, during West Bengal assembly elections in the beginning of 2021, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had personally met Ms Banerjee to extend support to her party Trinamool Congress in the then elections. The TMC swept the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls, winning 213 out of the 292 seats. The BJP, which had set a target to win more than 200 seats, could bag only 77 seats.
Ms Banerjee today in capital city Kolkata said, "If people support him, then there is a chance of Akhilesh Ji winning in this election."
"I want Samajwadi Party to win in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. If people support him, then there is a chance of Akhilesh Ji winning in this election," West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Mamata Banerjee was scheduled to arrive in Lucknow today to address a joint rally and press conference with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. After the joint press conference, Banerjee along with Yadav would do a virtual rally for the SP.
Banerjee also campaigned for the SP in the 2017 assembly polls in Lucknow. In 2021, SP national vice-president Kiranmay Nanda and Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan campaigned for the TMC ahead of the West Bengal assembly polls. In January, Nanda met Banerjee to invite her to Uttar Pradesh to campaign for SP.
Nanda last month said Yadav wants Banerjee to campaign for them because she is the face of the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politics at the national level. “The BJP has stopped all physical campaigns by the Opposition... citing the Covid-19 pandemic. It is using the Election Commission. No more than five people are being allowed at any meeting. Under these circumstances, a virtual campaign is the only solution. Banerjee has agreed to this,” Nanda said in Kolkata after meeting Banerjee last month.
The Trinamool Congress is seeking to increase its footprint ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state.
The Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases from Thursday and counting of votes will take place on March 10.
