BJP hatao, says West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee as she blames party for lynchings

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday predicted that the Trinamool Congress will register a resounding victory over the BJP at the state level in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“We will win all 42 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections from West Bengal,” PTI quoted her as saying during her address at the party’s annual Martyr’s Day Rally in Kolkata’s Esplanade area. The party currently holds 34 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.

Banerjee also announced the launch of a “BJP hatao-desh bachao (remove BJP, save the country)” campaign with the cooperation of like-minded Opposition leaders on August 15 – India’s Independence Day. “The 2019 Lok Sabha polls will be a big blow for the NDA, and Bengal will show the path,” she said.

According to ANI, the Trinamool Congress chief then went on to denounce the frequent incidents of mob violence occurring across the country. “The way people are being lynched everywhere, one can see they are creating Talibanis among the people. I respect some good people in the BJP and RSS, but others are playing dirty games,” she said.

Banerjee – who had first mooted the idea of a federal front to defeat the BJP – said her party does not hunger for power. “We don’t bother about the chair. We only bother about the people and the country,” she said.

She also took a dig at the saffron party over the collapse of a makeshift tent at a recent rally held by Modi in Midnapore. “How can they build the country when they cannot build a pandal?”

The Trinamool Congress chief also brushed away the NDA government’s victory in the no-trust motion held in the Lok Sabha on Friday, stating that its days in power are numbered. “During the no-confidence vote, they (NDA) got 325 votes. But in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, their strength will come down to barely 100 seats,” she said, adding that the BJP will fare badly in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Former BJP Rajya Sabha member Chandan Mitra and four Congress MLAs – Samar Mukherjee, Abu Taher, Sabina Yasmin and Akhruzzman – joined Banerjee’s party on the occasion. Mitra had resigned from the BJP a few days ago.

The Trinamool Congress observes Martyrs’ Day every year on July 21 to pay homage to 13 Youth Congress workers who were allegedly killed in police firing during the Left Front’s regime in 1993. Banerjee was a leader of the Youth Congress at the time. The rally came a day after a no-confidence motion against the Modi government was decisively defeated.

Party workers and people from across the state began gathering in the metropolis from midnight to attend the public meeting. The rally is of immense importance given the party’s ambition to play a major role after the next Lok Sabha polls, political observers said.

(With agency inputs)