As she led thousands of hungry, half-clad and angry farmers on the dusty streets of Singur and Nandigram over a decade ago, defying the mighty Communist regime of West Bengal, little did she know she was on the threshold of scripting history.
Mamata Banerjee, the tempestuous Trinamool Congress supremo, might well be at the doorstep of making history yet again, if the BJP-led NDA fails to secure a majority in the Lok Sabha polls, ending up becoming a kingmaker in national politics if not the king.
One of the bitterest critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, she firmly pitched herself as a leader who could act as the glue to unite disparate political parties seeking to oust the NDA from power when she mustered leaders of 23 parties at rally here in January this year.