Mamata Banerjee
should be declared TMC’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha
elections, BJP’s Bengal unit chief Sukanta Majumdar said earlier this week
ahead of the West Bengal chief minister’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Wednesday.

“Firstly, we want
TMC to declare this, and then let the Opposition decide whether they will
accept Mamata Banerjee as the face of the Opposition or not,” Majumdar said, in
an apparent bid to rile up the TMC chief and trigger reactions from the
Opposition.

Echoing the Bengal
BJP chief’s remarks, Amit Malviya, head of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s IT cell
said that if Mamata Banerjee wants to become the face of the Opposition, then
TMC should formally announce it.

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“In the election,
the public decides who will be suitable for the post of the Prime Minister. The
Opposition keeps meeting among themselves, but they should announce who is their
leader and what are their policies. On this basis, the public will decide
whether you are right or not. But TMC is keeping silent in Delhi,” Malviya told
ANI.

Mamata Banerjee’s
Delhi trip comes at a time when the Bengal CM is on a political high with a
number of leaders from the BJP and the Congress joining TMC. Several prominent
BJP leaders in Bengal have swayed to the Trinamool now, including high-profile
leaders like Babul Supriyo and Mukul Roy. The TMC is also investing its
energies in recruiting leaders from around the country.

Tennis legend Leander
Paes, actor-turned-politician Nafisa Ali, senior politician Pawan Verma have
all joined the Trinamool recently giving Mamata’s party a national profile.
Bengal Trinamool leaders have been visiting Tripura stirring up protests.

On Wednesday, Mamata
Banerjee will meet Subramaniam Swami before meeting the prime minister.
Banerjee’s visit to New Delhi is being seen by political observers as part of
her efforts to assemble the Opposition before the 2024 elections.