Mamata Banerjee cast herself in a new role on Friday, seeking to reach out to a pan-India audience and speaking more like an accommodative constituent of INDIA, the new Opposition partnership, and less as a regional satrap.

Mamata’s 41-minute address that switched between Hindi and Bengali from the Trinamul Martyrs’ Day dais was woven around the theme of how INDIA (the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) would try to checkmate the BJP in the 2024 elections.

She spoke as a national leader willing to set aside state-specific concerns and differences for the greater cause. The key takeaways from Mamata’s address follow:

Jeetega Bharat: The Friday rally kickstarted the campaign for the pan-India alliance of 26 anti-BJP parties. Mamata made numerous references to the alliance and sloganeered for it.

“I am happy today that before 2024, we have been able to create an inclusive alliance called INDIA. Whatever the fight is in India today, everything will be carried out under the banner of INDIA. Under the banner of INDIA, we will win,” Mamata said.

About halfway into her speech, when it started pouring for a bit, Mamata said the rain was a sign that India would be created anew in 2024. That India, rebuilt under the leadership of INDIA, would be for the people, development, unity and harmony, she added.

Affirming her party’s position as a core constituent of the alliance, and not its leader, she said: “INDIA will fight, Trinamul Congress will stand by it, brandishing the flag, like a soldier.”

“Jeetega INDIA, jeetega Bharat…. Modi will lose. The BJP will lose. This is our own slogan,” she said, repeatedly congratulating the other constituents of the alliance.

Chair message: Mamata attempted to project herself as a leader who was not tempted by the post of Prime Minister but as someone who was willing to do all it takes to work towards the cause of protecting the idea of India.

“We do not care for the chair. We do not want any chair,” she said.

“Let me state this in clear terms, we don’t care about any post, we only want peace for our nation. The BJP government has crossed all limits of decency, it is time for the people to remove them from power,” added the chief minister.

In 2019 and thereafter, the saffron camp had often mocked Mamata’s attempts at forging a national Opposition alliance by suggesting she was doing so with the ambition of becoming Prime Minister. Her disclaimer was aimed at blunting such attacks by the BJP this time.

Sources in her party also said the selfless affirmation of commitment to the cause, without expecting to be richly rewarded, was a crucial message to others, including the Congress, in INDIA.

“We are saying this clearly, that we want the political departure of the BJP from the country because it is becoming impossible to tolerate the BJP. They have crossed all limits,” she said.

Target BJP: Mamata devoted most of her speech to training her guns at the BJP and chose to name Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She accused the saffron camp of resorting to polarisation while doing nothing to address issues that affect the people.

Calling the BJP “merchants of terror” and lambasting it over the mishandling of the Manipur situation, she said: “You want to break the country, to create ethnic-communal riots, and clashes between Hindus and Muslims, Rajbanshis and Kamtapuris,” she said.

“You want to take Darjeeling away from Bengal, to split north Bengal and south Bengal…. You do such things. But did you ever consider what the cost of petrol is, how price rise impacts people? During elections, will make false promises,” she added.

Then, she sprang another slogan: “Har ghar mein ekhi daak: Modi jaak, Modi jaak (The same call from every home: Modi must go, Modi must go).”

She warned against letting the BJP retain power in 2024, asserting that the democracy that India holds dear would perish.

“We have to throw them out, Trinamul doesn’t care about power, we want peace,” said Mamata.

Cong spared: The Trinamul chief, in a marked departure from her speeches in recent years, was silent on the Congress — a crucial partner in INDIA.

In her entire address, she mentioned the Congress just once, that too in passing.

Until Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, Mamata had been pitching for equidistance from the BJP as well as the Congress. Since his disqualification, however, she has been showing signs of recalibration in her approach.

A lot changed over the course of the two meetings of the national Opposition in Patna and Bangalore. Especially in Bangalore, her cordial approach towards Rahul — whom she called “our favourite” — and Sonia Gandhi stood out.

Kid gloves on CPM: Even the CPM, another constituent of INDIA, did not receive the usual treatment from Mamata. Unlike all her political speeches in recent memory, Mamata kept the mention of the CPM to a bare minimum and without her usual belligerence.

Other than defending her party against allegations of excesses in the recent panchayat elections and vowing to take from the Centre the funds due for welfare schemes, Mamata ensured that local matters took the backseat at Friday’s event.

She did criticise her predecessors in the state government while referring to the rural poll violence of the past.

“We did not create political panchayats in Bengal. That happened during the Left rule. We are bearing that burden,” she said, adding that her “friends” from the CPM were “allergic” to her.

The only other time she mentioned the CPM was towards the end of her speech when she said that the panchayat bodies won by Trinamul must not be run like those under the CPM when the Left regime was in power.

On July 21 last year, Mamata had dedicated a whole segment of her speech to attack the CPM, especially its Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, who is an advocate in several cases against the state government.