Ms Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal state and leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, has taken centre stage amid mounting debate on whether an alliance of regional leaders can be an alternative to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP - which has been in power at the federal level for seven years - has largely been feeble given that the country's only other national party, the Congress, remains rudderless and riven by dissension.
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