Lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar and actor Shabana Azmi met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Delhi on Thursday as the Trinamool Congress supremo is on a spree to meet political leaders and activists who share anti-Bharatiya Janata Party sentiments.

“The nation mood is for a change. The country needs a change. There have been riots in Delhi. It’s unfortunate. There is an atmosphere of fear in the country. That should go,” Akhtar told media persons in the national.

However, he ducked the question on who will lead the Opposition front.

“The (West) Bengal model is an example. There is no doubt there will be ‘khela hobe’ in the nation,” the veteran poet and lyricist said.

Mamata Banerjee yesterday blew the bugle for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and said that the next general elections will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘versus’ the country.

“Poore desh me khela hoga. It’s a continuous process,” she had said

The West Bengal CM said that in order to defeat the BJP, all Opposition parties have to regroup and fight as a formidable force.

“It is essential for everyone to come together in order to defeat the BJP… Alone, I am nothing – everyone will have to work together. I am not a leader, I am a cadre. I am a person from the street. Sonia Gandhi also wants the unity of the opposition… Congress trusts the regional parties and regional parties trust Congress,” Mamata said yesterday.

The TMC chief, who reached Delhi on Monday evening, has so far met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath, Anand Sharma and Abhishek Manu Singhvi so far.