Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched scathing attack on TMC chief Mamata Banerjee saying BJP wants 35 of the state's 42 parliamentary seats to topple the latter’s government in the state.
Shah’s assertion comes ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha election.
According to the report in NDTV, during a rally in Suri in Birbhum district of West Bengal, Shah targeted Banerjee, TMC’s National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee and Anubrata Mondal - the powerful TMC district president for Birbhum.
Mondal is in jail after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged connection with a cattle-smuggling probe.
The report stated that the BJP plans to exploit his absence from the ground politically.
Advertisement
"The Didi (Mamata Banerjee) and the Bhatija (Abhishek Banerjee) are engaging in misrule and the only alternative is BJP. We have stopped cow smuggling. Do you want infiltration in Bengal? The only way to stop it is to vote for BJP," the report quoted Shah as having said.
Shah as per report BJP's target in Bengal is for the 2024 elections to win 35 of the state's 42 parliamentary seats.
Shah report said claimed 35 seats in Lok Sabha would be enough to topple the Banerjee’s government in the state.
"Give us 35 seats in 2024 and the Mamata Banerjee government will be out. There is corruption in Bengal. And only the BJP can stop it," report quoted Shah as having said.
Advertisement
In its reaction, the report mentioned TMC slammed Shah for using central agencies to target the party after the 2021 election when the BJP could not form a government despite running a high-voltage campaign strategised by him.
TMC also called him a 'seasonal bird' who visits West Bengal during elections and advised him to go back to Delhi and do his job and not indulge in trash talk, the report said.
"He avoided answering the five questions the Trinamool Congress was asking. And just the way the Union Rural Development Minister avoided meeting the delegation of MPs from Trinamool Congress, Amit Shah too avoided those vital questions, which included MNREGA funds. What about funds for Bengal? He was talking about corruption yet he was sharing the stage with Suvendu Adhikari who was caught on camera taking money,” the report quoted Women and Child Development Minister of West Bengal, Shashi Panja as having said,
The report said TMC has decided to make withholding of central funds to beneficiaries in West Bengal a key election issue, while BJP has decided to focus on issues like corruption, violence will help it dislodge the TMC from power.
Both the TMC and the BJP are focussing on the areas where they did not win seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the report said.
