'Will win Bengal on one leg and Delhi on two': Mamata Banerjee
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo also attacked the Election Commission of India (ECI) reiterating that the polls should have been held in a short period of time in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ahead of the third phase of Assembly elections in West Bengal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed confidence in her chances to win the assembly election. She said, “I will win Bengal on one leg and in the future, will get victory in Delhi on two legs.” Banerjee was addressing a public meeting in Hooghly's Debanandapur.
The comments were in reference to the leg injury she sustained in an alleged attack in Nandigram last month. Mamata Banerjee has been campaigning on a wheelchair since the incident.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo also attacked the Election Commission of India (ECI) reiterating that the polls should have been held in a short period of time in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. She also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government of meddling in ECI's affairs.
"What was the need for an eight-phase election? It was done by BJP Mandal. Given the present situation (Covid-19), shouldn't they have wrapped up the election within a short period of time?" she asked.
Mamata Banerjee slammed the BJP for not being able to find a local candidate to contest polls. "BJP, can't you find a local candidate to contest elections? They don't have locals, all their people are borrowed from either TMC or CPM. They're sprinkling money like water from a hosepipe. They who can't say Sonar Bangla properly, can't rule Bengal," she said.
Meanwhile, the ECI rejected Banerjee’s claims about the presence of outsiders at a polling booth in Nandigram as “factually incorrect” and “devoid of substance”. The poll panel sent the letter to the chief minister on Saturday in response to a complaint filed by her on April 1, when polling was held in Nandigram, alleging irregularities in the polling process.
A total of 31 Assembly constituencies including eight in Hooghly, seven in Howrah and 16 in South 24 Parganas will go to polls in phase 3 on April 6. The voting for the first two phases of the West Bengal polls was held on March 27 and April 1, respectively. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
