Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | BJP's dream to dislodge TMC govt will never materialise: Mamata Banerjee

Sonarpur (WB): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the BJP, asserting that its aspiration to overthrow the democratically elected TMC government after the Lok Sabha polls will remain unfulfilled.

Addressing an election rally here in Jadavpur constituency, Banerjee said that the BJP's speculation that the days of the TMC government were numbered after the Lok Sabha polls was akin to issuing a veiled threat but such ambitions will not materialise.

"BJP should not dare try to topple a democratically elected government. Its ambitions for success in the Lok Sabha polls will be shattered, as the people's verdict will be with the TMC," she asserted.

"My analysis of the last six phases is that the BJP will not cross the 200-seat mark, while the INDIA bloc will come to power in Delhi, in which West Bengal and TMC will play a pivotal part," she said.

Banerjee claimed that the TMC is solely confronting the BJP in West Bengal, accusing Congress and CPI (M) of clandestinely aligning with the saffron party.

Without naming Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, Banerjee said, "One leader from Purba Medinipur district is issuing diktats to district and police officials to manipulate election outcomes."

She criticised the Narendra Modi government for favouring big corporations like Adani and Ambani, stating that stakes in defence sector and vital PSUs were sold in the interest of big businesses, while LPG prices were hiked to over Rs 1,000 per cylinder.

Accusing the BJP of showing dictatorial tendencies akin to (Adolf) Hitler and (Joseph) Goebbels, Banerjee warned against their purported agenda to change the Constitution, distort history and 'drive out' backward caste citizens through NRC and CAA.

"I will support the INDIA bloc but will ensure that CAA and NRC are scrapped and the Uniform Civil Code is not implemented. Every bonafide Indian citizen of any community has the right to live without fear," she asserted.

Modi is plotting to drive a wedge between Muslims and SCs, STs and OBCs as manifested in the conspiracy to scrap the OBC certificates issued since 2010 and take away certain benefits under the OBC Bill passed in 2012, she alleged.

"We respect the judiciary but we will move the higher court against the Calcutta High Court order after summer vacation," she said.

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday struck down as illegal the OBC status of several classes in West Bengal granted since 2010, sparking a political debate in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections.

The court observed that the inclusion of 77 classes of Muslims in the list of backward categories was to 'treat them as a vote bank'.

Accusing Modi of ushering in a regime where even IIT graduates are not getting jobs, she said, "The true colour of the BJP came to the fore when it conspired to take away the jobs of 26,000 young teachers. But the Supreme Court stayed the earlier order of high court and we have faith in the judiciary."

"We have already kept 10 lakh jobs ready but the BJP and its friend CPI (M) are plotting to derail the process. They are anti-Bengal," she alleged.

Ridiculing a senior BJP leader's claim that Lord Jagannath is a 'bhakt' (devotee) of Modi, Banerjee said sarcastically, "Why is a temple not coming up in the name of Modi who now claims he has no biological parents but is a son of God. Why are daily pujas not being offered by BJP leaders to propitiate the self-styled God?"

"Modi considers himself as God. Does God contest polls or plot riots," she questioned.

"Such remarks prove BJP has crossed all limits of audacity," she said.

Banerjee dared Modi to recite five mantras of Lord Jagannath, asserting she could keep on mouthing scores.

At another rally in Bagha Jatin area in the evening, she said BJP was yet to declare the birthday of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as a national holiday and was yet to give him credit for India's freedom movement.

Referring to the Sandeshkhali issue, she claimed that the BJP's gameplan to foment unrest by making false claims about women atrocities backfired and 'it is now plotting communal violence which will also not succeed'.

Banerjee claimed that the BJP does not understand the psyche and heritage of Bengal and its people, citing a few instances.

She questioned Modi's persistent focus on Bengal in his rallies outside the state, suggesting an obsession.

"Modiji had even said that TMC was planning to make Abhishek Banerjee the PM one day. What a far-fetched and incredible theory by BJP about someone who joined politics only a few years back but certainly made his mark as a politician. He (Abhishek) was astounded by Modi's fertile imagination," she said.

Referring to Cyclone Remal, she said, "We are taking all preventive steps. Don't be scared. Keep additional power consuming units switched off at your homes, barring lights and fans."

Attacking the BJP over staggered polls, she claimed that the EC declared such a long schedule to ensure that Modi becomes PM again.

Banerjee alleged that the Adhikari family "betrayed the martyrs of the Nandigram movement in 2007 and sold themselves to the BJP."

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