With victories in last year’s assembly elections and bypolls in West Bengal, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee has emerged as a formidable force against the Bharatiya Janata Party that came to power at the Center and in several states. No wonder Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav wants him to campaign in his favor ahead of the February-March assembly elections in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.
Polling will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7 for the election of 403 MLAs in UP. Counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Akhilesh has sent National Vice President of Samajwadi Party Kiranmoy Nanda to Kolkata and there has been a meeting between him and Mamta at 4.30 pm on Tuesday.
Speaking to News18.com, Nanda said, “Mamata Banerjee is undoubtedly one of the tallest leaders today. He is a strong political force against the BJP. The way he returned to power in Bengal is commendable. The whole country saw how he fought against BJP and showed him the door. So, we want him to virtually campaign for us for the UP elections. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions and as per our initial plan, we are opting for a virtual political campaign. Tomorrow I am meeting him and soon everything will be finalized.
Asked why people would listen to Mamata Banerjee in the Uttar Pradesh elections, he said, “Why not? He is a strong leader and he is very popular at the national level. He silenced everyone in Bengal with a thumping majority. You must have seen how a large number of people are gathering in Akhilesh Yadav’s rallies and on the other hand, seats are empty in BJP’s rallies in UP. We personally felt that she could give impetus to our campaign.”
Akhilesh Yadav has good relations with Mamata Banerjee and TMC leaders. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in an exclusive interview to this reporter, Akhilesh Yadav, who had come to Kolkata to attend Mamata’s ‘Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) rally’ at the Brigade Parade Ground, had said, “Long leaders Shaking hands is a strong indicator of this. A successful Mahagathbandhan… Credit goes to Didi. Mamata di took the initiative to unite us for Parivartan (Parivartan) to serve the nation. BJP worked for the poor and downtrodden people of the country. Nothing has been done for them. Today farmers are unhappy, youth are unemployed and the country is going through economic crisis. After GST and demonetisation, dreams of common people have been shattered. BJP will have to answer why they did injustice to the people. I want to thank Didi for accepting this challenge. The message of badla has started from Bengal (the message of change has started coming out of Bengal).”
However, in the elections, the BJP returned to power with an overwhelming majority at the Center and made a big jump in its seat count in Bengal.
In reference to TMC’s popular ‘khela hobe’ (game on) political slogan for the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections, Nanda said in Uttar Pradesh it will not be ‘khela hobe’ but ‘khela shesha’ (game over). BJP. “We want Didi (as Mamata is popularly known) to give this message to everyone in Uttar Pradesh. We hope that with the blessings of the people of UP, we are going to win this election,” he said.
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