Mamata Banerjee to Campaign for Priyanka Gandhi in Wayanad, According to Sources

Ms. Gandhi will be making her electoral debut, running from Wayanad once a bypoll is held there. This decision came after Rahul Gandhi chose to vacate the seat to retain the family stronghold of Raebareli.

He had secured the Wayanad constituency for a second time in the recent elections, winning by a margin of 3.6 lakh votes. The renewed camaraderie between Ms. Banerjee and the Congress can be partly attributed to the loss of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency, who was one of the Bengal chief minister’s strongest critics.

Despite the close bond between Ms. Banerjee and the Gandhis, Mr. Chowdhury’s acerbic comments and personal attacks on the chief minister had caused a strain between the Trinamool and the Congress. This tension had led to the Trinamool’s decision to contest the Lok Sabha elections independently in West Bengal, a move that was successful with the party winning 29 of the state’s 42 constituencies during the elections.

The sources mentioned that the “Adhir issue” has been resolved and the Trinamool had informed the Congress of his seat loss. The opposition has been critical of the passing of laws without proper consultation during the Monsoon session of Parliament last year, when over 140 MPs were suspended.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Ms. Banerjee called for a fresh review of the laws by Parliament, citing the authoritarian manner in which they were passed. In addition, Congress leader Manish Tewari has criticized the implementation of new criminal laws, stating that they lay the foundations of turning India into a Police State and must be re-examined by Parliament.

Furthermore, the opposition is expected to raise concerns over the NEET and NET exam irregularities in protests across the country, after irregularities were reported in NEET and the cancellation of the UGC-NET, both conducted by the National Testing Agency.