ANNOUNCING THAT she plans to visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi to “light diyas”, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said her party does not want to weaken the fight of regional parties against the BJP by contesting polls in every state, but is ready to campaign if required.
Briefing reporters after meeting the Prime Minister on the third day of her Delhi visit, Banerjee said she will campaign if any regional party invites her to do so. “A decision will be taken when the time comes. In Goa, Haryana and Tripura, we have started [party units]. In Uttar Pradesh, we have a small unit. But I feel there are some areas where let them fight, the regional parties, strongly, if necessary we can campaign for them, it depends,” she said.
Responding to a related question, she said, “I want to visit Varanasi. There I will light diyas, there are plans to visit Shiv Mandir.”
“The TMC wants that the BJP is defeated. But we will not fight polls everywhere. We will fight where we are needed. If Akhilesh wants our help then we are ready to do so,” she said, when asked if the TMC will field candidates in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
On her meeting with the Prime Minister, Banerjee said she raised several issues ranging from the decision to expand the territorial jurisdiction of the BSF in Bengal, “which will disturb the federal structure”, to clearance of pending dues, and the “atrocities in…
