West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may have been compelled to campaign from a wheelchair in recent weeks, but her political aspirations are far from subdued. Over the last few days, the Trinamool Congress has ignited buzz about a possible Lok Sabha campaign, with Mamata now seeming to confirm the rumours.
"I will win Bengal on one leg and in the future, will get victory in Delhi on two legs," Banerjee proclaimed in Hooghly district's Debanandapur area on Monday. A few days earlier, she had reportedly dubbed the state Assembly polls as the "semi-final" ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In the meantime, TMC MP Mahua Moitra has triggered speculation that the CM plans to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Prime Minister Modi's own constituency of Varanasi. The PM had been quick to hit back at the rumours, contending that this was tantamount to the TMC supremo accepting her defeat.
"Didi is now looking for a place for herself outside Bengal. The people of Varanasi and Uttar Pradesh are as large-hearted as the people of Bengal. They won't call her an outsider," he quipped sarcastically.
Mamata's Delhi remarks come soon after the West Bengal Chief Minister reached out to a massive number of Opposition leaders including those contesting against her in the state polls. In her letter to 15 party leaders, Banerjee called "for a united and effective struggle against the BJP's attacks on democracy and Constitution" and suggested that a meeting should be held after the assembly polls to "deliberate the issues and chart out a plan of action".
The letter has been sent to several opposition leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, DMK leader MK Stalin, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, CPI (ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
