Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday formally made public her national ambitions, with veteran social activist Anna Hazare just stopping short of endorsing her as his favourite prime-ministerial candidate for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Neither Banerjee, nor Hazare made it clear if the Trinamool Congress chief was joining the race to the prime minister’s office formally. But with a joint news conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, they sent out enough indication that the chief minister for West Bengal was keen to position herself as a potential claimant for the top job if the polls in April-May threw up no clear winner. They told journalists that the TMC would put up its candidates in about 100 constituencies across the country. Banerjee said that her party would not only field candidates in all the 42 parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal, but would also contest for the Lok Sabha seats in Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
The TMC leader also said that she would field candidates in northern, western and southern states in consultation with the veteran Gandhian.
“Who will be the prime minister will be decided after the elections. We want stable Government at the Centre,” Mamata said. “I can offer my service to the country,” she added.