West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday left for U.P. to campaign for the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, and gave a message to the Congress that it should have supported the SP, instead of making the polls a multi-cornered contest.
Before leaving for the poll-bound State, the Trinamool Congress chairperson said she wanted SP leader Akhilesh Yadav to win and the BJP to lose in the polls.
Also read: Swami Prasad Maurya | Big-ticket defection
“It would have been nice if all parties would have come together. But whatever happened has happened. Everyone should support Akhilesh.. Though we have not fielded a single candidate, yet I am going there to give moral support,” she stated.
In U.P.’s Hardoi, Kurmis split on ration versus quota
She further said, “When you won’t get anything, what is the point in splitting votes. We tried but they [Congress] did not listen”.
Ms. Banerjee clarified that she won’t be campaigning in Goa in the next few days. She suggested that there were other people campaigning for the party in the State. “In Goa, some other people are working. I am going to U.P. for greater interest,” she said. She is likely to address a press conference and a virtual meeting in Lucknow with Mr. Yadav. She hinted that she will visit Varanasi that will go to the polls in the later phase and campaign for the SP.
Ms. Banerjee, who met protesting Air India Employees, observed that she welcomed the takeover of the airline by the Tata Group, but asserted that the services of its employees should not be terminated.