Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee will play a big role in the formation of the new government at the Centre, said Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Naidu visited the former Maoist-dominated Lalgarh in West Bengal to attend a rally in support of Birbaha Soren (Tudu), TMC candidate from Jhargram constituency. Naidu also addressed another rally in Haldia, Tamluk constituency.

“The West Bengal chief minister is a Bengal tiger now, and after the elections, she will become the tiger of the nation. The BJP is going to be defeated miserably and Mamata Banerjee will play a big role in the formation of the new government by wining all the 42 seats in the state,” said Naidu in Lalgarh.

“Once this place was controlled by Left-wing extremists. But now, it is totally controlled by the chief minister of Bengal. There is peace now and a lot of development work has been done. The people of the region are living in peace. It is a model to be followed,” he added.

On Thursday, Naidu and Banerjee are supposed to share the dias in Kharagpur, which comes under the Medinipur Lok Sabha constituency and goes to polls on May 12. TMC candidate and Rajya Sabha MP Manas Bhuniya will contest against Bharatiya Janata Party state president Dilip Ghosh here.

Earlier in the day, Naidu had met Congress President Rahul Gandhi in and discussed plans to hold a meeting of Opposition parties on May 21, two days before the results of the ongoing seven-phased Lok Sabha elections are announced.

First Published: May 09, 2019 00:03 IST