Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee announced on Wednesday that her party will field candidates in Uttar Pradesh for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, India Today reported.
Banerjee, who is also the West Bengal chief minister, urged regional parties to unite to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2024. She made the statement while addressing a meeting in Kolkata after being re-elected unopposed as the party chief.
Banerjee added that the Trinamool Congress is not contesting the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, but will support Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Times Now reported.
She also alleged that the Congress helped the BJP win elections in Meghalaya and Chandigarh.
The Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the 2018 Meghalaya elections, but the National People’s Party formed the government in the state with the support of the BJP and other regional parties.
On January 9, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sarabjit Kaur was elected as the Chandigarh mayor after the Congress abstained from the voting process. The Aam Aadmi Party had won the most seats (14) in the General House of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.
Banerjee said on Wednesday that her party believes in working with people and not agencies, according to India Today. “The BJP has three jewels: the ED [Enforcement Directorate], the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] and cash,” she said.
The Trinamool Congress has been seeking to expand its national footprint after it secured a landslide victory in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections. It is contesting the Goa Assembly election and has inducted several leaders from the Congress into its fold.
In December, Banerjee had said that the United Progressive Alliance did not exist any longer. Responding to a reporter who had asked if an Opposition alliance could be formed without the Congress, Banerjee said “a strong alternative” was needed to oust the BJP from power.
“[We] cannot do anything about those who can’t fight,” she had said.
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