Congress on Sunday claimed that the desperation to perform better in West Bengal has forced the BJP to field union ministers and members of Parliament in the state assembly elections.
“These are last-minute gimmicks. The BJP, which is drowning, is desperately clutching at the last straws to salvage the West Bengal election,” senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said when asked to comment on BJP fielding Union Minister Babul Supriyo and three MPs in the assembly elections.
Gohil attacked BJP MPs for contesting assembly polls when Congress fielded Lok Sabha member K Muralidharan from Nemom assembly seat in Kerala.
Gohil, who was in-charge of the Congress in Bihar where JD(U)-BJP coalition retained power, said the BJP had turned West Bengal polls into a high-stakes battle.
“The sole aim of the BJP is to increase its vote share, be it at the cost of fielding an MP, a minister, by breaking someone’s leg. Their only goal is to gather votes,” Gohil said.
Rahul Gandhi, who has campaigned in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry was yet to visit West Bengal where the Congress is contesting as part of the Left Front coalition that includes the Indian Secular Front, an outfit floated by Furfura Sharief cleric Abbasuddin Siddiqui.
“All senior leaders and ordinary workers will campaign in the West Bengal election,” Gohil said.
Published 14 March 2021, 17:00 IST