Chennai: West Bngal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who flew to Chennai last week and met her Tamil Nadu counterpart M.K. Stalin of the DMK, said before leaving Calcutta that regional parties would play a key role in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“Regional parties are very important for the 2024 elections. I believe and trust all regional parties must work together,” Mamata told mediapersons at Calcutta airport before leaving for Chennai to attend a family event of Bengal governor L.A. Ganesan. “However, I can't comment on it (Opposition unity) without discussing it with all the leaders of regional parties,” she added.
Later in the evening, Mamata told reporters in Chennai after meeting Stalin at his residence: “It was a courtesy meeting just like of a brother and sister. But when two political persons meet they may have some political discussion.”
Sources in Trinamul said that the meeting with Stalin was significant at a time the Trinamul was trying to lead an anti-BJP alliance in the run-up to the 2024 general elections. Trinamul insiders said Stalin had accepted Mamata’s invitation to visit Bengal.
“There will be certainly a strategy by the Opposition parties in the country to dethrone the BJP government at the Centre,” said a source in Trinamul. Sources said Mamata’s stress on the unity of regional parties also sends out a message that her party was not “eager for an alliance with the Congress”.
