JOIN USThe Assembly elections in West Bengal may still be almost a year away, but Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee is confident of returning to power in 2016
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Banerjee exuded confidence in a tweet on Saturday, even as the Opposition feared this meant the ruling party would unleash a reign of terror to hold on to power.
“In a democracy, people have the final say. Our record on development makes us confident we will win again in 2016,” tweeted Banerjee.
Although she did not explain where her confidence stemmed from, she expressed it in a talk show on a Bengali news channel on Friday night.
On the show, “Janatar Dorbaar”—literally “the people's court”—Banerjee also fielded questions from citizens, celebrities, academicians and intellectuals.“I don’t want to make any comments as of now. People are the judge in a democracy. The decision rests with them.”
The Trinamool has done a lot of good work in the last four years. We’ve served the people,” she said, following it up with Saturday's tweet, hours after the show was aired.
Asked to name someone else if she had to choose a different chief minister, she said: “I’m no one to decide the chief minister. People have the right to do so. I leave the decision to them.”
Banerjee did not seem to have much patience with the Opposition in the state.
“This requires a longer debate. We were also in the Opposition. Being in the Opposition doesn’t mean opposing for the sake of it. It does not entail engaging in smear campaigns and slander. We believe in constructive criticism. As long as the Opposition does not let go of its negative attitude, it will be in disarray,” she said.