NEW DELHI: NCP chief and veteran leader Sharad Pawar and West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee will address a joint campaign rally for the West Bengal assembly polls in the state that begins from March 27.
Pawar, who has already pledged his support to the ruling TMC in Bengal, will be campaigning in and around Kolkata for the three days that he will be in the city, even as his party is not contesting any seat in the state.
Pawar's public meetings have been planned in the Dumdum parliamentary constituency represented by senior TMC leader Saugata Roy and other venues.
In a rare show of solidarity during assembly elections, regional party leaders positioned as political opponents to the ruling BJP at the Centre as well as in their respective states, have not just pledged their support to Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in her battle against the saffron challenger, but many will be campaigning for her in the Bengal assembly polls.
Apart from Pawar, Jharkhand chief minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Hemant Soren held three rallies in Purulia and Bankura districts that border his state and Bengal on March 24.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav from Uttar Pradesh and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejaswi Yadav from Bihar are also among those who will be campaigning in the poll-bound state.
As the high-octane assembly elections in Bengal is turning essentially into a Modi versus Mamata battle -- with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as BJP chief campaigner in the state -- anti-BJP political forces across the country seem to be rallying around Banerjee, supporting TMC, rather than the Congress-Left-ISF alliance which is also targeting TMC as Banerjee seeks a third term in office.
While the Left parties have often partnered Congress at the national level, against BJP and its allies, smaller parties like NCP, JMM, RJD, SP have often rallied around Congress as the fulcrum party earlier.