Will You Lead INDIA Bloc? Sri Lankan Prez Asks Mamata Banerjee; TMC Supremo Responds | WATCH

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday asked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee whether she will lead the Opposition alliance, INDIA for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Banerjee replied to Wickremesinghe saying, “If people support us, we can be in a position (power) tomorrow.” The duo met at the Dubai airport.

The TMC Supremo — on a 12-day official trip to Dubai and Spain — said that the Sri Lankan President called her to “join for some discussion when he saw her at the airport lounge. Banerjee had invited Wickremesinghe to the state-organised Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) in November.

In a video from their run-in, the duo can be seen greeting and conversing with each other.

Taking to the microblogging site X, the Bengal chief minister said, “His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe saw me at the Dubai International Airport Lounge and called me to join for some discussion. I have been humbled by his greetings and (have) invited him to the Bengal Global Business Summit 2023 in Kolkata.”

She said that the interaction was pleasant with deep implications, adding that, Wickremesinghe also invited her to the island country, Sri Lanka.

The BGBS, this year, is scheduled for November 21 and 22.

The TMC supremo arrived in Dubai on Tuesday evening and was at the airport this morning for her flight to Spain.

During her trip to Dubai and Spain, Banerjee will be attending business summits to attract investments to West Bengal. Business and football club management officials are also travelling with Banerjee. Cricketer Sourav Ganguly, who is currently in London, will also be joining Banerjee in Barcelona.

“We will stay in Madrid for three days, where we will hold business meetings. We will also meet with the NRIs there. There will be meetings in Barcelona and Dubai. I got a lot of invitations in the past five years, but could not go as I did not get the permissions. This time, I am going and will definitely bring something for Bengal,” Banerjee had said earlier.

(With inputs from PTI)