U.P. Assembly elections | Mamata Banerjee to address rally in Varanasi on March 3 during PM Modi’s visit to city

West Bengal CM’s visit is at invitation of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, says TMC

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will on Thursday address a joint rally with Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav in Varanasi, ahead of the last two phases of the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.

Ms. Banerjee’s visit will coincide with a three-day tour by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is her second visit to the State; she had spent two days in the first week of February. 

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is not contesting the Assembly election in the State, but Ms. Banerjee, in an earlier announcement, had said that her party would be preparing to fight a few seats from here in the general election of 2024. The party began work on building a unit in the State after senior Congress leader Laliteshpati Tripathi joined the TMC. 

“Mamata Banerjee is going to Varanasi at the invitation of Akhilesh Yadav and to express solidarity and support for the Samajwadi Party in the ongoing U.P. Assembly election,” TMC national spokesperson Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar told The Hindu.

Ms. Banerjee will also visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple. 

The SP had shown similar solidarity during the West Bengal Assembly election last year, when the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan spent more than two weeks campaigning for the TMC in the State.

Ms. Dastidar did not elaborate on whether this campaign pit stop is part of the party’s strategy to carve out a bigger role for itself in national politics. “Ms. Banerjee, as a seven-time MP, three-time Chief Minister and multiple-time Cabinet Minister, has friends across political parties. As for our role in 2024, we shall decide on it,” the spokesperson said.