On a day when PM Narendra Modi took a swipe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asking if she was arranging to contest from an additional seat just after sensing defeat in Nandigram, the Trinamool Congress and its MP Mahua Moitra hit out at the PM more than the remark and stated he need to brace himself for the challenge he is going to face on his property 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,” stated Moitra in a tweet.
The Trinamool Congress stated that Mamata Banerjee is winning from Nandigram and the query of her fighting from an additional seat does not 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,” stated the AITC in a tweet difficult 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 more than 3.5 lakh votes. The TMC’s tweet suggesting a challenge to PM Modi on his property turf did set off a wave of speculation if Mamata would truly take up the direct fight with Modi or the TMC would field a heavyweight candidate against him.
Interestingly, the TMC’s tweet comes just after Mamata reached out to the opposition parties calling for unity to fight the BJP and its divisive agenda. In a letter to many leaders of opposition parties, such as Sonia Gandhi, Mamata stated that the time had come to place up a united struggle against the BJP and recommended that they set up a meeting to talk about the way forward as soon as the Assembly elections conclude.
Mamata Banerjee is locked in a hard battle with her protégé-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram. Adhikari, the sitting MLA from the constituency, had joined the BJP in December final year. Both, the BJP and TMC have campaigned intensively in the location and claimed the upper hand as polling concluded in the higher-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 help of Suvendu Adhikari in the campaign.
Banerjee shifted from her conventional constituency Bhowanipore to Nandigram to set up a straight fight with Adhikari just after the latter challenged her to contest from the seat that propelled her to energy more than a decade ago. Adhikari, who played a important part in the Singur land agitation and stood by Mamata’s side, vowed to defeat her.
A huge crowd was observed in each parties’ rallies clearly indicating a hard battle, the outcome for which will be announced on May 2.