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Delhi next on TMC target, says Mamata; issues rigging warning
Mamata Banerjee also accused the BJP of stealing TMC’s ‘parivartan’ slogan and remodelling it as ‘asol parivartan’ (real change) for the Bengal elections.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that after the assembly elections, her party will bring “poribartan (change)” at the Centre, where the Bharatiya Janata Party is at the helm.
Addressing a poll rally in Kharagpur, Banerjee said, “Next, we would bring poribortan in Delhi. They moment we win the Bengal elections, we would dive headlong for Delhi. They know that if Mamata wins in Bengal, it would prove to be a huge threat to them because she may come to Delhi and form an alternative force along with other parties.”
Banerjee also accused the BJP of “stealing” her party’s ‘parivartan’ slogan and remodelling it as ‘asol parivartan’ (real change) for the Bengal elections.
The Trinamool Congress chief’s remarks came as a response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘asol poriborton’ (real change) in the state. “I have come here to make you believe in ‘Asol Poribortan’, believe in Bengal’s development, in change of Bengal’s situation and in the reconstruction of Bengal,” Modi said in his address to a rally at the Kolkata Brigade Parade ground last week.
Alleging that the BJP will try to rig the assembly elections, Banerjee asked TMC workers to remain vigilant during and after the eight-phase elections till the counting of votes on May 2.
“I have respect for the police, they do not do such things, but there are instructions from the BJP to take hold of the EVM machines,” she said.
“If you are told that an EVM is malfunctioning, do not return home. Turn off the machine and switch it on at least twice after the mock polls to ensure there is no rigging,” she said, in a series of instructions for her party workers.
The BJP, however, said that the chief minister should first focus on getting Bengal. “Earlier, she used to give certificates to her ministers. Now, she has started giving certificates to herself. Let her tackle Bengal first, she can think about Delhi later. The party (TMC) will be wiped out (this elections) and Banerjee could soon be seen as an opposition leader,” senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha said.
