West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has called upon individuals and political parties to “join forces to defeat” the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as she prepares to visit Goa on October 28.
Banerjee will be in Goa on a two-day visit, as she seeks to branch out into new states, after having fortified the TMC's position on her home turf in the West Bengal assembly polls.
“As I prepare for my maiden visit to Goa on 28th, I call upon all individuals, organisations and political parties to join forces to defeat the BJP and their divisive agenda,” she tweeted on October 23.
In the tweet, Banerjee said that the people of Goa have “suffered enough” over the last 10 years and added that together they will form a new government that will “truly be a government of people”.
“Together, we will usher in a new dawn for Goa by forming a new govt that will truly be a govt of the people of Goa and committed to realising their aspirations!” she said in another tweet.
The Trinamool Congress, after its stunning victory in the West Bengal assembly elections earlier this year, is trying to increase its footprint nationally and has made inroads in BJP-ruled Goa and Tripura.
Former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro ended his decades-long association with the Congress and joined the TMC in September. Many others from the party followed suit.
Former Congress women's wing chief and senior party leader from Assam, Sushmita Dev, had earlier quit the grand old party to join the TMC.
The West Bengal unit of the BJP and the Congress mocked Banerjee's proposed visit as "political tourism" to the scenic state.
"The weather in Goa now is apt for tourists. She is going there for a vacation," BJP state spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said.
Senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan said her visit wouldn't yield any results and is aimed at helping "her ally BJP" in Goa.
(With inputs from PTI)
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