On a day when PM Narendra Modi took a swipe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asking if she was planning to contest from another seat after sensing defeat in Nandigram, the Trinamool Congress and its MP Mahua Moitra hit out at the PM over the remark and said he should brace himself for the challenge he is going to face on his home turf in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “Contesting from second seat? PM Modi jabs Mamata Banerjee. Yes Mr. Prime Minister, she will. And it will be Varanasi! So go get your armour on,” said Moitra in a tweet.
The Trinamool Congress said that Mamata Banerjee is winning from Nandigram and the question of her fighting from another seat doesn’t arise. “Didi is winning Nandigram. The question of her fighting from another seat doesn’t arise. @narendramodi Ji, retract from your efforts to mislead people before they see your lies with the end of nomination in WB. Look for a safer seat in 2024, as you will be challenged in Varanasi,” said the AITC in a tweet challenging PM Narendra Modi.
Lok Sabha Elections will be held in 2024. PM Narendra Modi had won from Varanasi for the second consecutive term in the 2019 polls. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has contested the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat against PM Modi in 2014 but lost by a margin of over 3.5 lakh votes. The TMC’s tweet suggesting a challenge to PM Modi on his home turf did set off a wave of speculation if Mamata would actually take up the direct fight with Modi or the TMC would field a heavyweight candidate against him.
Interestingly, the TMC’s tweet comes after Mamata reached out to the opposition parties calling for unity to fight the BJP and its divisive agenda. In a letter to several leaders of opposition parties, including Sonia Gandhi, Mamata said that the time had come to put up a united struggle against the BJP and suggested that they set up a meeting to discuss the way forward once the Assembly elections conclude.
Mamata Banerjee is locked in a tough battle with her protégé-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram. Adhikari, the sitting MLA from the constituency, had joined the BJP in December last year. Both, the BJP and TMC have campaigned intensively in the area and claimed the upper hand as polling concluded in the high-profile seat in the second phase of elections for the West Bengal Assembly. While Mamata Banerjee led the TMC campaign, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda, MP Manoj Tiwary and actor Mithun Chakraborty swooped in to support of Suvendu Adhikari in the campaign.
Banerjee shifted from her traditional constituency Bhowanipore to Nandigram to set up a straight fight with Adhikari after the latter challenged her to contest from the seat that propelled her to power over a decade ago. Adhikari, who played a significant role in the Singur land agitation and stood by Mamata’s side, vowed to defeat her.
A large crowd was seen in both parties’ rallies clearly indicating a tough battle, the result for which will be announced on May 2.
