Mamata vs Modi in Varanasi in 2024? TMC leader Mahua Moitra's tweet triggers speculation

Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after latter claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will contest election from another seat because her loss in Nandigram is imminent.

Responding to Modi, Moitra said that the Prime Minister should worry about Varanasi seat because Banerjee will contest elections against him from here. Varanasi is the parliamentary seat of PM Modi which he won first time in 2014 and retained in 2019.

"Contesting from second seat? PM Modi jabs Mamata Banerjee Yes Mr. Prime Minister, she will. And it will be Varanasi! So go get your armour on," she said sarcastically.

"Didi is winning Nandigram. The question of her fighting from another seat doesn't arise. Narendra Modi Ji, retract from your efforts to mislead people before they see your lies with the end of nomination in WB. Look for a safer seat in 2024, as you will be challenged in Varanasi," All India Trinamool Congress tweeted from its official Twitter account.

While addressing a rally in Uluberia on Thursday, PM Modi took potshots at Banerjee and asked whether she is contemplating fighting from another constituency. “Didi, is there any truth in the rumour that you are going to file nomination from another constituency? First, you went there (Nandigram), and the people gave you an answer. If you go somewhere else, the people of Bengal are ready,” he said.

Later, TMC dismissed PM Modi's claim that Banerjee will contest from another seat apart from Nandigram. "The question of CM fighting from any second seat doesn’t arise. She is winning Nandigram comfortably," top sources in the TMC told India Today TV.

The clarification from the TMC came after PM Modi claimed that Mamata Banerjee will now be filing her nomination from a second seat.

Mamata is facing one of the most difficult political challenges of her life. She is facing a stiff challenge from BJP in the poll after helming West Bengal for a decade. In Nandigram, she is contesting elections against her aide-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari who had quit TMC last December and is now fighting on a BJP ticket. More than a political fight, the battle for Nandigram has turned into one of prestige and has assumed the proportions of a personal fight to decide who owns the legacy of the Nandigram movement.

Adhikari spearheaded the anti-land-acquisition movement in Nandigram in 2007. In the 2009 general elections, Adhikari won from Tamluk. In 2014, he was re-elected to Lok Sabha from Tamluk. He, however, resigned in 2016 after winning the Assembly polls from Nandigram and was made Transport Minister. Banerjee, who represented Bhowanipore seat in the Assembly since 2011, decided to contest from Nandigram after Adhikari's exit from the TMC.

Nandigram witnessed 80.79% voter turnout on Thursday.