Howrah (West Bengal) [India], May 15 : Amid opposition efforts to forge a joint front against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that the parties which are strong in a particular region should fight together and if she is supporting Congress in states such as Karnataka, "it should not fight against me in Bengal".
Talking to media persons at Nabannna, Banerjee, who is Trinamool Congress chief, said wherever a regional political party is strong there BJP cannot fight.
She hit out at the BJP and said the verdict in Karnataka was "against the BJP government".
"People are demoralised and frustrated... people are antagonised....the economy is ruined. Democratic rights are being bulldozed. Even the wrestlers are also not spared. So in this situation, I think whoever is strong in a particular region, should fight together. In Bengal, we (TMC) should fight...in Delhi, AAP should fight," Mamata Banerjee said.
She said Congress was strong on about 200 Lok Sabha seats and the party was willing to extend support there.
"In Bihar, Nitishji, Tejashwi, some part Congress is there, they will decide, I cannot decide on their formula. Wherever regional party is very strong, so you see...Bihar, Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chennai, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab, the strong party must be given priority. Wherever Congress is strong in their respective 200 seats or something. Let them fight, we will give support, nothing is wrong (in that). But they (Congress) have to support the other political parties also. I am giving you the support in Karnataka. But, you are fighting against me every day - it should not be the policy," she added.
The TMC supremo said in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party should be given priority.
"If you want to get some good things, then you have to sacrifice yourself also in some areas. Suppose in UP, of course, Akhilesh should be given priority. Though Ajit Singh is there also, they have other combinations. I am not telling that Congress should not fight there. Let us decide this. It is not at the final stage," the chief minister said.
She said when the matter is discussed, details can be worked out.
Congress registered an emphatic victory defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Karnataka assembly elections.
Congress won 135 seats pushing the BJP out of power in Karnataka, the only southern state it ruled, and boosting its own prospects for the electoral battles ahead.
BJP managed to win 66 seats. Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) bagged 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha won one seat each.
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