Mamata to hold rally in Varanasi with Akhilesh

A total of 54 constituencies, including eight in Kashi, are scheduled to go to polls in Uttar Pradesh in the last phase on March 7.

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee will campaign for the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its allies in Varanasi – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency – on March 3, ahead of the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections.

Lucknow, India – February 08, 2022: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banarjee along with Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav gesture during the joint press conference appealing to voters to support Samajwadi Party (SP) during Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election campaign at the party state headquarters in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India on Tuesday, February 08, 2022. (Photo by Deepak Gupta/Hindustan Times)

A total of 54 constituencies, including eight in Kashi, are scheduled to go to the polls in the last phase on March 7.

“West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will visit Varanasi on Wednesday (March 2) evening. The next day (March 3), she, along with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, will address a public meeting in Airhe village of Varanasi,” SP’s Varanasi district unit chief Sanjay Mishra said.

The heads of SP’s alliance partners – Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)’s Jayant Chaudhary, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party’s Om Prakash Rajbhar and Apna Dal (K)’s Krishna Patel – will also share the dias with Banerjee and Yadav on that day, Mishra said.

It is for the first time this election season that the SP and its alliance partners will hold a joint rally to seek votes. The opposition’s campaign, considered to be the biggest this poll season, will coincide with the sixth phase of elections where voting will be held in 57 seats in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

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 election.

SP functionaries said a roadshow by Banerjee is also likely to be held on March 3. Upon her arrival, the TMC chief is expected to visit Dashashwamedh Ghat for the “Ganga Aarti” and may also visit Kashi Vishwanath the following morning.

RLD spokesperson Anil Dubey confirmed Chaudhary’s participation in the March 3 rally. SBSP national spokesperson Piyush Mishra said: “Of course, Om Prakash Rajbharji will be there.”

Former BJP minister and SP’s Fazilnagar candidate, Swami Prasad Maurya, too is likely to be present at the event.

Kashi Based UP BJP spokesperson Ashok Pandey said, “The TMC has no base in Uttar Pradesh. Therefore, TMC chief and west Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee’s rally in Varanasi will have no effect in election in purvanchal. The rally, which SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Mamta Banerjee have to address in Varanasi (on March3), is not going to change any political equation in the region.”