The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday pitched Mamata Banerjee as the face of opposition against Narendra Modi for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. West Bengal’s ruling party also laughed off the credentials of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a national leader.
While speaking at an event, TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said, “We are not talking about an alliance without the Congress. I have observed Rahul Gandhi for a long time and he has not developed himself as an alternative to Modi. The entire country wants Mamata so we will keep Mamata’s face and will campaign.”
“Rahul Gandhi cannot defeat Narendra Modi while Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M) has zero value in the country,” he added.
Several TMC leaders have been projecting Mamata Banerjee as an alternative to PM Modi for the next general elections, however, the West Bengal CM maintains that opposition unity is more dear to her than any designation.
Banerjee’s name is being projected as a national leader following the TMC’s resounding victory in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
During a rally in Bhabanipur yesterday, the Trinamool Congress chief asserted that she will not allow the country to turn into Pakistan or the Taliban.
While addressing a public gathering, she alleged that the saffron party has claimed the Bhabanipur constituency in south Kolkata will become Pakistan if the TMC wins the by-poll from there and accused the BJP of practising divisive politics.
The Trinamool Congress supremo is contesting the by-election from Bhabanipur.
“I don’t like the policies and politics of the BJP. They only follow the politics of dividing people on religious lines. In Nandigram, they had said it would become Pakistan (if the TMC wins). In Bhabanipur too, they are saying it will turn into Pakistan. This is shameful,” Banerjee said while campaigning.
Banerjee lost to Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP from Nandigram during the assembly election held earlier this year. She has to win this by-poll to retain her chief minister’s post.
