To win UP, Congress should have joined hands with Samajwadi Party: Mamata | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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To win UP, Congress should have joined hands with Samajwadi Party: Mamata

Feb 07, 2022 06:28 PM IST

Mamata Banerjee on Monday left for Lucknow on a two-day visit. She will campaign for the Samajwadi Party virtually in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said an alliance between Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh could have stopped division in anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) votes in the upcoming assembly polls.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said an alliance between Congress and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh would have helped them win the state. (HT PHOTO.)
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said an alliance between Congress and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh would have helped them win the state. (HT PHOTO.)

“It would be good if the Congress and Samajwadi Party had fought unitedly. The votes would not have been split. We requested them but they (Congress) did not listen,” Banerjee said at the Kolkata airport on Monday afternoon before leaving for Lucknow where she will campaign for the SP during her two-day tour in the run-up to the polls.

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“I am campaigning for Akhilesh Yadav. He invited me. I want him to win. He has the organizational setup. I want BJP to lose,” said Banerjee, adding that her party will contest some seats in Uttar Pradesh during the next general elections.

She also said that the TMC will contest the next Lok Sabha polls from Punjab. “I am interested in Punjab. We will contest the Lok Sabha polls there. I have toured the state several times,” she added.

The chief minister said she will also visit Varanasi to offer prayers at a Shiva temple and watch the Ganga aarti.

When pointed out that Varanasi is the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Banerjee said, “It can be the Prime Minister’s constituency. Anybody can go anywhere.”

On Sunday, Union minister of state for civil aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia said in Kolkata that the Centre’s plans to build a second airport in the Bengal capital have been stalled by the state’s failure to provide land.

Reacting to this, Banerjee said: “From where will I get the land? Will I run bulldozers on thousands of houses? We cannot evict all these people. We gave land for a third runway at the Kolkata airport. I, too, want to procure land. But where is it?”

“I will not let another Singur or Nandigram happen. I don’t kill farmers to grab land,” said the chief minister, referring to the long agitation that farmers in the two Bengal villages carried out under her leadership against the erstwhile Left Front government’s move to procure farmland for industries.

While Singur in Hooghly district was the site of the proposed Tata small car factory that was eventually set up at Sanand in Gujarat, Nandigram was supposed to have a chemical hub. The then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had to shelve both projects but the agitations helped the TMC oust the Left Front government in 2011.

“We provided land for the airports at Andal (in West Burdwan) and Cooch Behar. Why isn’t the Centre making these fully operational? Why is Andal not being turned into an international airport? Is it close to Bihar and Odisha,” said the chief minister.

When Banerjee reached the airport, a group of Air India employees were staging a protest against the Centre’s decision to let the Tata Group takeover the national carrier.

“The union people met me. The Indian government must ensure that nobody loses their job. We welcome the Tatas. There is no problem if employment is secured. A lot of people were taken on contract. Where will they go?” said Banerjee.

Unveiling Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!

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