Modi, Mamata to campaign in northeast this month

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee will address rallies in Tripura this month to launch their parties' campaign for the Lok Sabha polls in the northeast, party leaders said Sunday.

"Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would address an election rally in Agartala Feb 22 to kick off his campaign in the northeast," state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sudhindra Dasgupta told reporters.

BJP's national vice president S.S. Ahluwalia, who heads the party's campaign sub-committee for the northeastern region, would arrive here Feb 11 to supervise the preparation for the elections and Modi's rally.

Trinamool's Tripura committee chairman Ratan Chakraborty told reporters that West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee would address a rally here in the last week of February.

Both the BJP and Trinamool have no elected leaders in the local government bodies or in the state assembly in Left Front-ruled Tripura.

The parties, however, claim they would make their presence felt in the Lok Sabha polls.