West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is all set for her second trip to Uttar Pradesh.
On March 2, she will visit the Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi and on March 3, she will join the rally organised by TMC’s ally and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav. She is also expected to visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple and perform a puja.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the MP from Varanasi.
Party insiders said: “Didi’s visit to Varanasi is significant. She is an important face for the 2024 elections.”
Banerjee has declared that she will contest from UP in the 2024 general elections. She had said earlier that Yadav will win UP elections this time. Banerjee has also set the ‘Khela Hobe’ tune in UP for Akhilesh Yadav.
On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too is looking forward to Banerjee’s visit. The BJP feels her image will not go well with Hindu voters, which will, in turn, hit SP’s vote bank.
Speaking to News18, Amit Malviya, national convener of the IT cell of the BJP and co-incharge of West Bengal, said, “Banerjee heaped abuse on people from UP and Bihar during the Bengal elections. It is incomprehensible how she will go and seek votes from them now. Her credibility and acceptability beyond Nabbana has taken a huge hit after her defeat in Nandigram and the horrific post-poll violence in Bengal, the worst in independent India’s history. Her visceral hatred for everything Hindu and Sanatan is another reason why she would feel extremely unwelcome and out of place in Kashi, the oldest living city of Hindu civilisation. Mamata Banerjee should focus on retaining her hold on TMC, which is slipping away at the moment, given her nephew’s unbrindled ambition to unseat her in a hurry.”
With inputs from News18
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