Days ahead of the asembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Trinamool Congress chairperson and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said an alliance between Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) in UP could have stopped division in anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) votes in the upcoming assembly polls.
Ms Banerjee opiniated at the Kolkata airport on Monday afternoon before leaving for Lucknow where she will campaign for the SP during her two-day tour in the run-up to the polls.
She said, "“It would be good if the Congress and Samajwadi Party had fought unitedly. The votes would not have been split. We requested them but they (Congress) did not listen."
“I am campaigning for Akhilesh Yadav. He invited me. I want him to win. He has the organizational setup. I want BJP to lose,” said Banerjee, adding that her party will contest some seats in Uttar Pradesh during the next general elections.
She also said that the TMC will contest the next Lok Sabha polls from Punjab. “I am interested in Punjab. We will contest the Lok Sabha polls there. I have toured the state several times,” she added.
During her visit to the poll bound state, the CM will also visit Varanasi to offer prayers at a Shiva temple and watch the Ganga aarti.
Meanwhile, yesterday, Union minister of state for civil aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia said in Kolkata that the Centre’s plans to build a second airport in the Bengal capital have been stalled by the state’s failure to provide land.
Responding to this, Banerjee said, “From where will I get the land? Will I run bulldozers on thousands of houses? We cannot evict all these people. We gave land for a third runway at the Kolkata airport. I, too, want to procure land. But where is it?"
