Mamata’s UP poll drive part of TMC national plan
NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee’s decision to campaign for the Samajwadi Party (SP) in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh is not a one-off political move but a model that can be replicated in other states as well, two senior party leaders said.
Banerjee is expected to hold a virtual campaign for the SP and subsequently address a joint press conference with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on February 8. The TMC president is also likely to visit Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency, to campaign exclusively for the SP ahead of the February 10 elections. The Bengal chief minister’s plan to get involved in the Uttar Pradesh elections for the SP also comes in the backdrop of TMC’s growing tension with the Congress (after TMC poached several lawmakers and senior leaders and attacked the Congress in the last few months) and her ambition of bringing together opposition parties for a united battle against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the next national elections.
“We are fighting in states such as Goa or Tripura. But it doesn’t mean we would be fighting in all states. Like, we have no long term plan to contest in Maharashtra. We would not fight the polls in Tamil Nadu or Kerala,” TMC’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien said.
According to TMC leaders, it is in states where the BJP is in power that the Bengal-based party would try to take on the ruling side. The TMC is unlikely to contest in states where there is a strong regional party or a strong opposition party on the ruling side. “In Uttar Pradesh, it is in our best interest to support the SP. In other states, if the local parties want Mamata di to support them, she will definitely try to help the regional parties,” another senior TMC leader said, seeking anonymity.
TMC leaders also point out that Banerjee herself has been advocating this model.
“Wherever an opposition party is strong, other opposition parties should try to support it. This can be a solid foundation for an opposition unity,” a second leader said, also seeking anonymity. The second leader also pointed out that a major reason behind the friction between the Congress and the TMC is the fact that the Grand Old Party, in alliance with the left parties, had contested in all 294 seats in the West Bengal assembly elections last year.
“She is certainly the biggest leader in Bengal. But her appeal is restricted there and perhaps in other Bengali speaking areas. Beyond that, she is not a vote catcher,” a senior Congress strategist said, seeking anonymity.