KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said she would visit Delhi during the upcoming Parliament session and meet "some leaders"’ triggering speculations of forming an anti-BJP coalition to challenge the saffron camp in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Sources in the ruling party said she would spend a week from July 25 in the national capital.
"I could not visit Delhi due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I usually go there during Parliament sessions and meet leaders. Now as the Covid situation has improved, I will go to Delhi and meet some leaders there. I will also seek time from the President and Prime Minister," said Mamata at the state secretariat on Thursday.
Mamata, after shattering BJP’s dream of wresting West Bengal in the recent Assembly elections, urged all non-BJP parties to come together and fight against the saffron camp. She also said each political party should support the other which is strong in its own state.
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The buzz of forming the third front became strong after the Bengal Assembly elections as election strategist Prashant Kishor, who was hired by Mamata after her party’s debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Bengal, met NCP chief Sharad Pawar twice and held a meeting with Congress high-command comprising Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, and Priyanka.
Though Mamata said there was nothing unusual in her Delhi visit, sources in the TMC said, "She has timed her Delhi visit to coincide the Parliament session as senior leaders of opposition parties will be available. It will be her face-to-face meet with non-BJP leaders since TMC’s stupendous victory in the Assembly elections," said a TMC leader, adding, "Mamatadi has grown up in stature after defeating the BJP in the Assembly polls and become an anti-BJP face in country’s political arena. Now she wants to reach out to anti-BJP political parties at the national level ahead of the 2024 general elections."