TMC to field candidates in 2018 Odisha urban polls: Mamata Banerjee

Bhubaneswar: Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday decided to field party candidates in the 2018 Odisha urban local bodies elections.

TMC state president Arya Kumar Gyanendra said this after Banerjee met the party's state leaders in Puri.

"We have been instructed to create a field for the next urban polls and strongly oppose BJP everywhere in the state," Gyanendra told PTI after the meeting Banerjee.

Stating that TMC will leave no stone unturned to oppose BJP in Odisha, Gyanendra said "Mamataji has given us clear instructions to ensure that BJP fails in its bid to communalise Odisha. She also asked us to create TMC's presence in all 314 blocks of the state."

Banerjee has also said that she will soon appoint a TMC state in-charge, he said.

Asked about TMC's relationship with the ruling BJD, Gyanendra said "They (BJD) will do their work and the TMC is free to conduct its own programme. There is no bar on highlighting weakness of the state government."

"Banerjee has also given a clear signal that TMC will stand by the farmers, Dalits, tribals and urban poor," he said adding, the state unit of TMC will hold a rally at Puri to be addressed by senior party leaders.