Tag : NH

New Delhi: A day after winning the Asansol parliamentary seat for the Trinamool Congress by over three lakh votes, Shatrughan Sinha said the party's "street fighter" supremo Mamata Banerjee will prove to be a "game-changer" in the 2024 general election. In an interview with PTI, he credited Banerjee, the West Bengal chief minister, with the victory from Asansol, a seat that the Trinamool Congress won for the first time. Sinhga, who had started his political career with the Bharatiya Janata Party but shifted to the Congress before the 2019 parliamentary election and now to the TMC, said he has now found the "right direction". "One has to travel a lot to find the right direction... thus far and no further," he said when asked if the TMC will be his final destination in politics. Sinha told PTI over the phone from Asansol that he was excited to start a new and the "best innings" with the Trinamool Congress. Banerjee, he said, is gaining popularity across the country after inflicting a crushing defeat on the BJP in the West Bengal assembly polls last year. "The victory in Asansol was due to the able leadership of Banerjee and the hard work of TMC leaders and workers. This can be seen as an extension of her 'khela hobe (game is on)' slogan." "Mamata Didi is a tried and tested politician with a street fighter image. Her popularity has spread in the country, especially after defeating the BJP in 2021 West Bengal polls despite the BJP using money and misusing power due it being in the Centre," he said. Sinha, who is expected to play a role in expanding the TMC's footprint outside Bengal before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, said, "Mamata Didi will prove to be a game-changer in the next general election. My role will be to take her messa ...