aving shaken off the Congress' extended hand of friendship in her own State and in an apparent bid to find a friend in an 'enemy's' (read the Congress) friend Bengal Chief Minister will fly off to Amritsar on February 21, Trinamool Congress sources said.

Apart from offering prayers at the Golden Temple, Banerjee is likely to meet Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart and Aam Aadmi Party president Arvind Kejriwal.

For the records, both the TMC and the AAP have refused to play ball with the Congress in Bengal and Punjab in that order.

Banerjee had on a number of occasions attacked the Congress for its alleged highhandedness before declaring her ekla chalo (go alone) policy. "We were giving them two seats but they wanted to bite more than they could chew … such is their arrogance … so I have decided to go it alone … the TMC will fight alone in Bengal as only the Trinamool can defeat the BJP here," he said.

On whether Banerjee's meeting with Mann and Kejriwal would sound a death knell in the Indian National Democratic and Inclusive Alliance --- for all practical purposes pivoted by the Congress --- by the creation of a "room within a room," TMC spokesperson Arup Chakrabarty said Banerjee's visit should be seen in a wider angle as she was a senior leader in the INDIA alliance who unlike many others was trying to selflessly bring the likeminded parties together keeping without usurping their identities.

Speaking on the possible agenda of the Mamata-Mann-Kejriwal summit he said, "Our leader Mamata Banerjee has already made it clear from the very beginning that each party should fight with its full force where it is strong and support the other parties that are stronger in their respective regions … she has been telling from the very beginning about amicable seat-sharing formula … in Bengal due to a number of reasons she has made it clear that the TMC --- which is the only party capable of fighting and defeating the BJP as it did in 2021 Assembly elections --- will fight the elections alone … in other places we are ready to cooperate."

He also said that "the talks (with Mann and Kejriwal) will further strengthen the anti-BJP alliance and the meeting will send positive message about INDIA alliance to the people all over the country … other constituents like DMK etc will also hail such efforts being made by Mamata Banerjee."

On whether the Punjab summit could make possibilities of the AAP and TMC leaders campaigning for each others' parties during the elections, he said, "when politicians meet many things are discussed."

The BJP however pooh-pooed the likely meeting even as its State president Sukanto Majumdar said, "Bhagwant Mann ji should be very careful about Mamata Banerjee because whenever she meets someone and gives her advice to that person he invariably goes to jail … as it happened in the case of Kejriwal ji whose Deputy Chief Minister went to jail after his meeting with Mamata Banerjee … even Kejriwal ji is on the verge of going to jail … now Mann ji should consider things before meeting Mamata Banerjee."

In any case there was no scope of INDIA alliance in the 2024 general elections he said. "INDIA alliance is a gone case … they are a divided house without any leader, agenda or any message for the people … they are only a group of thieves … so their meeting does not impact us."

Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury on the other hand refused to pay any importance to Banerjee's Amritsar trip saying, "this is a democratic country where anyone can go anywhere … as for me I am not concerned about who is going where or meeting whom … we are only concerned about our own programmes."