West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamta Banerjee will campaign for the Samajwadi Party in the Uttar Pradesh assembly election.
She is likely to address her first rally on February 8 through virtual mode. In the first phase of assembly elections, 58 constituencies will go to polls on February 10.
Akhilesh Yadav had requested the TMC chief to campaign in UP. She has already extended her party’s support to the Samajwadi Party-led alliance. The UP polls will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7 to elect 403 legislators. The votes will be counted on March 10.
Akhilesh Yadav has sent Samajwadi Party national vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda to Kolkata.
Nanda said, “Mamata Banerjee is undoubtedly one of the tallest leaders today. She is a strong political force against the Bharatiya Janata Party. The way she battled back to power in Bengal is commendable. The entire country saw how she fought against the BJP and showed them the door. Therefore, we want her to campaign for us virtually for the UP elections,” Nanda said and added, “Due to COVID-19 restrictions and as per our initial plan, we are opting for a virtual political campaign and everything will be finalised soon.”
Nanda said, “Mamta Banerjee is a strong leader and she is very popular nationally. She silenced everyone with her thumping majority in Bengal. You must have noticed how a large number of people are turning up at Akhilesh Yadavji’s rallies and, on the other side, chairs are empty in BJP rallies in UP. We personally felt that she can add momentum to our campaign.”