Mamata Banerjee,
West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo, stood by Samajwadi
Party
chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday and said Yadav will win the upcoming
Uttar Pradesh elections. “If Bengal can (beat the BJP) so can Uttar Pradesh,”
Banerjee said.

“I have vast
political and administrative experience. I can say there is a one-on-one fight
in Uttar Pradesh and that Akhilesh will win,” appealing to people to not vote
for “koels” from Delhi or Hyderabad, who will “disappear once the elections are
over,” NDTV reported.  

In a sharp attack
at the BJP, the Trinamool supremo said, “They (the) BJP are a danger to
Hindustan. The BJP has become a khatra party (danger signal). You have to stand
on your feet and defeat them,” she said.

Also Read | Mamata Banerjee says Congress should have allied with Samajwadi Party to win

Talking about Yogi
Adityanath, Mamata Banerjee, in a scathing attack said, the monk-turned-politician
“parades as a saint during election is not is not the mark of a real saint…I
respect the real saints.”

Banerjee’s
Trinamool trumped the BJP in the Assembly elections held last year. Since then,
she has been trying to rally Opposition forces in an apparent bid to build a
coalition against the ruling party at the Centre.

Also Read | Yogi exudes ‘double-engine’ confidence, condemns attack on Owaisi

She has given
vocal support to the Samajwadi Party in UP though the Trinamool is not
contesting
the elections in India’s biggest state. Mamata’s Trinamool, however,
is trying to exert some influence in Goa, which is also going to polls later
this month.

This is not the
first time Mamata is campaigning for the SP. In the 2017 elections, Banerjee
campaigned for the Samajwadi Party in Lucknow. Similarly, SP’s Jaya Bachchan
and Kiranmay Nanda campaigned for the TMC ahead of the West Bengal elections.

The 403-seat Uttar
Pradesh Assembly goes to polls in seven phases over February and March.
Akhilesh’s SP remains the primary challenger to the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP
government.