“I Have Not Seen Such A Jumla Government In My Entire Political Life”
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee promised that once the INDIA bloc comes to power, measures will be initiated to scrap CAA and NRC and Uniform Civil Code
On Saturday, 18 May, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee claimed that the INDIA bloc will come to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and BJP will “not cross the 200 mark” in the polls.
“I had coined the name INDIA and at the national level we the coalition partners are all working together to resist the autocratic, demonic Narendra Modi government. TMC will play its role in installing the INDIA bloc to power,” Banerjee said, while addressing an election rally at Goghat under the Arambagh Lok Sabha constituency.
She said, “See what Modi is telling now. He is no more making tall ‘400 paar‘ seats claims,” adding, “He can read the writing on the wall already. BJP will not cross even 200 tally. BJP will bite the dust.”
Saying that Modi and Shah are “anti-Bengal”, Banerjee said, “His issuing advertisements in media to profess his love for the state won’t cut much ice with the residents of the state, who know these BJP heavyweight leaders will never understand our ethos and sentiments.”
Banerjee accused Modi and Shah of using false, doctored images of Matuas in one such ad which gloated over the benefits of the CAA.
“They made some of the poor, unsuspecting women sign on blank papers and incorporated charges of sexual misconduct in the complaint later,” she said, reiterating her allegations about the BJP concocting charges against TMC leaders of atrocities visited upon the women of Sandeshkhali.
Banerjee cautioned security personnel and voters, alleging that the BJP had planned to remove idols from temples in Sandeshkhali and elsewhere and to engineer riots to get votes by polarising people.
She accused BJP heavyweight Amit Shah of violating the Model Code of Conduct, claiming that the latter has been asking people to invest in shares to boost the stock market.
The West Bengal chief minister termed Modi a “jumla PM” and said he only spreads misinformation and makes false promises. She said the prime minister promised 2 crore jobs every year in the last polls so that the total number would go up to 10 crore. She added, “How many actually get the jobs promised by Modi? Why is he not repeating the same promise this time?… I have not seen such a jumla government in my entire political life.”
Banerjee also accused the prime minister of plundering the assets of the country and of plotting to divide the nation along religious lines. She charged Modi with trying to change the secular ideals and pluralistic values enshrined in the Constitution and the name of India to Bharat. She said, “This has become more pronounced since we named the opposition bloc INDIA.”
The feisty leader also promised that once the INDIA bloc comes to power, measures will be initiated to scrap CAA and NRC and Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
She accused the BJP of using central agencies to frame TMC leaders in coal and cattle smuggling cases and asked, “Who is in charge of border security? Why will union home minister Amit Shah not be arrested if there are such cases of smuggling?”
The West Bengal chief minister alleged that the BJP is trying to influence monks but that plan will not success. “I have regular contacts with monastic organisations and that will remain forever. I have great respect for them,” she said, while stating that her government had helped Ramakrishna Mission to renovate the ancestral home of Swami Vivekananda in north Kolkata.
