Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said she is ready to let finance minister Pranab Mukherjee become chief minister should the Congress-Trinamool alliance come to power in West Bengal after the assembly polls next year.
The Hindu A file picture of Union Minister for Railways, Mamata Banerjee. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt
Banerjee said she might not even contest assembly polls and devote her time for campaigning instead. “I may as well campaign for the elections.”
On who would handle the railway portfolio if she became the chief minister, she contended it would remain with the Trinamool Congress as long as it was an ally of the Centre. “After all, the Trinamool Congress has only one cabinet minister.”
The ruling CPM-led Left Front government is widely expected to be unseated, as the Trinamool Congress has won a string of civic, panchayat, assembly by-polls and Lok Sabha elections since 2008. Banerjee also said she was confident the Opposition would win all the seats in the Maoist-affected districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura.