NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress leader and former Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Falerio being nominated to the Rajya Sabha soon after the elevation of new entrant and former Congress leader from Assam Sushmita Dev to the upper house of the Parliament is seen as a pre-poll move to give the party a national look by chief Mamata Banerjee eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
According to a senior Trinamool Congress leader, bringing UP Congress leader Lalitesh Pati Tripathi on board is also part of the larger poll plan to remain relevant in national narrative, said a senior party leader.
“Mamata hopes of pitting a challenge against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024. Besides, the TMC has been working full swing for the Goa polls early next year,” the leader said.
Sources said that if Mamata has to take on the Modi government, she has to be part of the narrative and one of the ways is being proactive electorally.
“The next election in Bengal is in 2026. And if Mamata di should mean business, then her party must have a greater presence in all future elections. TMC contesting in a big way in Goa 2022, its plans to expand reach within other poll-bound states and getting Lalitesh Pati Tripathi in Uttar Pradesh are all part of this strategy. The party is working hard to connect with people in Tripura with elections due in 2023 and closely will follow the Lok Sabha elections in 2024,” said the leader.
If Mamata di wants to be a national leader, the TMC has to be part of all future elections, said the leader.
Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, being the grandson of former veteran Congress leader and former UP CM Kamlapati Tripathi, is a big bet for the party in UP.
Incidentally, Falerio and Dev’s Rajya Sabha role come after sitting members Manas Ranjan Bhunia and Arpita Ghosh were asked to resign to make way for non-Bengali faces in the Parliament representing TMC.