E-Paper
I’m here for Samajwadi Party’s victory, BJP’s defeat, says Mamata in Lucknow
This is not the first time Banerjee has visited Lucknow for the SP. Ahead of the 2017 UP assembly polls, she had come to support the SP when she held an anti-demonetisation public meeting at the 1090 crossing in Lucknow. Akhilesh was the UP chief minister then.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday will hold joint events with Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow.
On arrival at the Lucknow airport on Monday evening, Banerjee, in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav, said: “I am here for the SP’s victory, the BJP’s defeat.”
“Together we had defeated (BJP) in Bengal, now will defeat (BJP) in UP. It’s a promise to Didi, we will emerge victorious again,” Akhilesh Yadav tweeted in Hindi.
The TMC chief will hold a joint press conference and a virtual rally along with Akhilesh Yadav. Akhilesh received Banerjee at the Lucknow airport on Monday evening.
Earlier, in Kolkata, before leaving for Lucknow, Banerjee said: “I am going to campaign for the Samajwadi Party in Lucknow. Akhilesh Ji has invited me. I want Akhilesh Ji and the SP to win in Uttar Pradesh and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to lose. This will show the way forward. Everyone should support Akhilesh ji in his fight. TMC is not contesting from any seat in Uttar Pradesh but still, I am going there to give moral support.”
“I will be going to Varanasi too. I have been invited to campaign there ahead of the last phase of polls. I will be visiting the Shiva temple at Varanasi and seeing the aarti there. I have been to Varanasi earlier too but missed the aarti. So, this time I will see it and also hold meetings,” Banerjee said in Kolkata.
When asked whether it would have been better had the Congress supported the SP in Uttar Pradesh instead of going for a multi-cornered election, she said: “It would have been better had it been a united fight. When there is nothing to gain, then why engage in diving into someone else’s vote bank. We had tried but (Congress) didn’t pay heed.”
Akhilesh and Mamata share a bonhomie both on political and at personal levels. This is not the first time Banerjee has come to Lucknow for the SP. Ahead of the 2017 UP assembly polls, she had come to support the SP when she held an anti-demonetisation public meeting at the 1090 crossing in Lucknow. Akhilesh was the UP chief minister then. Yadav had supported Mamata and TMC in both the 2016 and 2011 West Bengal assembly elections. In 2021, Yadav had sent SP national vice-president Kiranmay Nanda and SP Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan to campaign for the TMC ahead of the West Bengal assembly polls.
Originally, there were plans for Banerjee to ride Akhilesh’s Vijay Rath along with Jaya Bachchan and former Kannauj MP Dimple Yadav. However, the idea was dropped when the election commission notified UP polls along with four other states and also issued certain restrictions regarding campaigning.
In January, Akhilesh Yadav sent Nanda to meet Banerjee at her south Kolkata residence to invite her to Uttar Pradesh to campaign for SP ahead of the polls.
The TMC had swept the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls winning 213 out of the 292 seats where elections were held. The BJP, which had set a target to win more than 200 seats, could bag only 77 seats.
