Mamata Banerjee hinted at future political realignments as she talked about "helping friends", many of them her counterparts in other states.
Highlights
- Trinamool Congress scores an even bigger victory than previous polls
- I'm not greedy: Ms Banerjee on being prime ministerial candidate in 2019
- I'm not a VIP, I'm an LIP or Less Important Person, she insists
After
winning spectacularly in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee was emphatic that it is not Destination Delhi next but hinted at a central role in bringing together regional forces.
"I am a commoner,
bhai. I don't want to be anything more. I can play some role for my country because I love my motherland I want to see my country to develop. So there if I can play a small role I can play that. But there are so many friends that can sit together, that can decide together I can help them. I am not a greedy person,"
Mamata Banerjee told NDTV on whether she saw herself as a prime ministerial candidate in 2019.
To press home the point, she used the term
"LIP" - Less Important Person - to describe herself.
Her top aide Derek O'Brien, however, demurred: "If Delhi has a place for LIPs, Mamata di can rule. Please don't rule out anything but that's not what Mamata di seeks."
Ms Banerjee, 61, pulled off a Nitish Kumar-like win and more as her
Trinamool Congress upped its previous tally despite being relentlessly attacked on corruption scandals.
Mr O'Brien commented that the win "gives Mamata di political immortality in Bengal."
Her win also underscores how regional players are emerging as a bigger challenge to the BJP on the national stage than the Congress.
The
Bengal Chief Minister hinted at a future political realignments as she talked about "helping friends", many of them her counterparts in other states.
"I have so many friends I can work with - Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar, Jayalalithaa, Mayawati..." she said.
Ms Banerjee attacked both the BJP and the Congress. Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulating her was "customary", she said: "I am against BJP's ideology because they like to divide and rule. We believe in Saare Jahaan Se Achha, Hindustan hamaara."
On the Congress, she commented that the party "has lost ground because they have forgotten their friends."
When NDTV asked whether she counted among her friends Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Ms Banerjee firmly refused to comment. "Don't insist," she said when asked the question more than once.