West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday attacked the Congress, saying the party was incapable of taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become more powerful as the grand old party is not serious about politics.
She alleged that the country is suffering because the Congress does not take decisions. “Modiji is going to be so powerful because of Congress. If one cannot take a decision, why should the country suffer for that? They (Congress) got enough opportunities. Instead of fighting against the BJP, they contested against me in my state. How do they expect that they will contest me and we will only give flowers and sweets to them in return,” Banerjee said, while addressing a group of media persons here on the last day of her three-day visit to Goa, where assembly polls are due early next year.
She was referring to the fact that the Congress contested against the TMC during the assembly elections in West Bengal earlier this year.
Taking a veiled attack on the BJP-led Centre, she said, “I want to see that all regional parties are strong. We are a union of states and the federal structure should be strong. If the state is strong, the Centre is strong. Delhi ka dadagiri anik naka (We don’t want bullying from Delhi anymore). Enough is enough.”
{{/usCountry}}Taking a veiled attack on the BJP-led Centre, she said, “I want to see that all regional parties are strong. We are a union of states and the federal structure should be strong. If the state is strong, the Centre is strong. Delhi ka dadagiri anik naka (We don’t want bullying from Delhi anymore). Enough is enough.”
{{/usCountry}}When asked if she would become part of an alliance that included Congress to take on the BJP in 2024 general election, she said, “I cannot say everything right now... they (Congress) don’t take politics seriously.”
“We want committed people, committed local political parties that really want to fight against the BJP,” she added.
She also backed the recent comments made by political strategist Prashant Kishor, who had said the BJP will remain at the centre of Indian politics for the next many years whether it wins or loses elections. Kishor also took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for “thinking it is just of matter of time before people throw BJP away”.
Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar said the TMC chief’s comments reflected their intentions to split the vote and benefit the BJP. “The Goa BJP doesn’t have the strength to defeat the Congress. That’s why the BJP tries each time to split the votes or buy the MLAs. Each election their focus on only splitting the votes. They bring A or B party, now they have brought a third party.”