Mamata thanks everyone who supported her to lead INDIA bloc

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visits the under-construction Lord Jagannath Temple at Digha in East Medinipur on December 11, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday (December 11, 2024) thanked several senior leaders of the INDIA bloc who endorsed her to lead the Opposition coalition.

“I am indebted to everyone for the respect they have shown for me. I pray for their good health. I want them as well as their party to stay well. I also want INDIA to stay well,” Ms. Banerjee told journalists in Digha. The Trinamool Congress chairperson refused to speak more on the issue.

Her remarks came after veteran Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday (December 10, 2024) said that the leadership of INDIA bloc may be given to Mamata Banerjee. Leaders such as NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar have also backed her.

Mamata’s interview

Last week, in an interview with Bengali television news channel News 18 Bangla, the Chief Minister had expressed her dissatisfaction with the functioning of the INDIA bloc, and indicated her intent to lead the alliance if given an opportunity.

“I formed the INDIA bloc, now it is up to those leading the front to manage it. If they can’t run the show, what can I do? I would just say that everyone needs to be taken along,” Ms. Banerjee told interview.

Several leaders of the Trinamool Congress in the past and recently party leader Kalyan Banerjee had said that the leadership of INDIA bloc should be handed over to the Trinamool Congress chairperson because the Congress party had failed in resisting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

However, West Bengal State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar said that whenever the BJP faces a problem, the Trinamool gives oxygen to it as well as the Central government. Despite being part of the INDIA alliance, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress fought the Lok Sabha elections separately in West Bengal. The Trinamool won 29 seats and the Congress one whereas the BJP got 12 seats.