Two UP Congress leaders join Trinamool in presence of Mamata Banerjee

Two senior Congress leaders of Uttar Pradesh on Monday joined the Trinamool Congress in presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Siliguri in north Bengal.

The two leaders, Rajeshpati Tripathi and Lalitpati Tripathi, said they would carry on the fight to oust the BJP from power in UP and the Centre under the leadership of Banerjee, the TMC supremo.

Rajeshpati Tripathi is an ex-MLC while Laliteshpati Tripathi is former UP Congress vice-president and an ex-MLA. Rajeshpati and Laliteshpati are the grandson and the great-grandson of former UP chief minister Kamalapati Tripathi respectively, TMC sources said.

"The faith of people in the TMC is increasing. The joining of the two leaders testifies that we are now an all-India party which can give real fight to the BJP," Banerjee said.

Alleging that the BJP is preventing the TMC from organising political programmes in Goa, Banerjee said she will be going to the western state in a few days.