With last year’s assembly election and bypoll wins in West Bengal, chief minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee emerged as a formidable force against the Bharatiya Janata Party that is in power at the Centre and many states. No wonder then that Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav wants her to campaign for his side virtually ahead of the February-March assembly elections in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.
The UP polls will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7 to elect 403 legislators. The votes will be counted on March 10.
Akhilesh has sent Samajwadi Party national vice president Kiranmay Nanda to Kolkata and a meeting has already been finalised between him and Mamata for 4.30 pm on Tuesday.
Speaking to News18.com, Nanda said, “Mamata Banerjee is undoubtedly one of the tallest leaders today. She is a strong political force against the BJP. The way she battled back to power in Bengal is commendable. The entire country saw how she fought against the BJP and showed them the door. Therefore, we want her to campaign for us virtually for the UP elections. Due to Covid-19 restrictions and as per our initial plan, we are opting for a virtual political campaign. Tomorrow I am meeting her and everything will be finalised soon.”
When asked why people will listen to Mamata Banerjee in the Uttar Pradesh elections, he said, “Why not? She is a strong leader and she is very popular nationally. She silenced everyone with her thumping majority in Bengal. You must have noticed how a large number of people are turning up at Akhilesh Yadav’s ji rallies and, on the other side, chairs are empty in BJP rallies in UP. We personally felt that she can add momentum to our campaign.”
Akhilesh Yadav has had a good rapport with Mamata Banerjee and TMC leaders. Before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, in an exclusive interview to this reporter, Akhilesh Yadav who came to Kolkata to attend Mamata’s ‘mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) rally’ at Brigade Parade ground, had said, “Tall leaders joining hands is a strong indicator of a successful mahagathbandhan…credit goes to Didi. Mamata di took the initiative to unite us for parivartan (change) to serve the nation. BJP has done nothing for the poor and downtrodden people in the country. Today, farmers are unhappy, the youth are jobless and the country is passing through an economic mess. Common people’s dreams were shattered due to GST and after demonetisation. The BJP needs to answer why they did injustice to the people. I would like to thank Didi for taking on this challenge. Badlav ka sandesh Bangal se shuru ho chuka hai (the message of change has started emanating from Bengal).”
The elections, however, saw the BJP return to power at the Centre with a sweeping majority and a big jump in its seat tally in Bengal.
In the context of the TMC’s popular ‘Khela Hobe’ (game on) political slogan for the 2021 West Bengal assembly election, Nanda said that in Uttar Pradesh it will not be ‘Khela Hobe’ but ‘Khela Shesh’ (game over) for the BJP. “We want Didi (as Mamata is popularly known) to send this message to all in Uttar Pradesh,” he said. “We are hopeful that with the blessing of the people of UP, we are going to win this election.”
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