Mamata to campaign for Priyanka in Wayanad

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, bitterly opposed to both the BJP and the Left, will campaign for Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala.

Trinamool Congress sources said the decision was made following a 40-minute meeting between Banerjee and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram in Kolkata.

It was the first meeting between any Congress leader and the Trinamool chief since she led her party to a victory in 29 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.

Priyanka is set to contest from Wayanad after her brother and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi vacated the sea and chose to remain the representative of Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha.

Rahul won from Rae Bareli defeating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh by 3,90,030 votes. He defeated Communist Party of India candidate Annie Raja in Wayanad by 3,64,422 votes.

Priyanka’s main opponents in Wayanad are expected to be the Left and BJP, both of which are anathema to Banerjee.

Banerjee’s decision to campaign for Priyanka could signal in thaw in relations between the Congress and the Trinamool which fought the Lok Sabha elections separately in West Bengal.

In December last year, soon after the formation of the Opposition INDIA alliance, Banerjee urged Priyanka to contest the general elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.