New Delhi: After defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and returning to a thumping majority in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants her party Trinamool Congress (TMC) to emerge as a strong opposition to the BJP at the national level.


The TMC chief while addressing the media in West Bengal said that her party will be contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh. "We will fight elections from Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," said Mamata Banerjee at the press meet.


 




She also made an appeal to all regional parties to come together for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 and defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh. "TMC wants all regional parties to come together and defeat BJP in 2024," quoted news agency PTI.


When asked about the Union Budget 2022 presented in the Parliament on February 1 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama, the TMC chief said that the budget was a big bluff aimed at fooling the masses.


"It's a big bluff which has nothing for the common people. Only two people are playing with the future of India. People of this country want jobs and food, they don't want diamonds," she said, as reported by PTI.


 Mamata was also critical of other issues like the Padma awards, which she termed as politicised.


 "Even awards like Padma Bhushan have been politicised. The narrative of politics has changed over the years. How can a veteran singer such as Sandhya Mukhopadhyay be insulted in such a way? She is presently hospitalised... If you speak out against them, they will threaten you and tap your phones using Pegasus," the chief minister alleged.


Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee was re-elected as Trinamool Congress Chairperson unopposed on Wednesday. The organisational elections of the party was held after a gap of five years.


According to TMC Secretary General Partha Chatterjee, Banerjee was declared elected without a contest as no other leader entered the fray, reported PTI.


The Trinamool Congress was formed by party Chief Mamata Banerjee in 1998 after breaking away from the Congress.