Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday raised the pitch for a proposed anti-Bharatiya Janata Party Federal Front, stating that her party will hold a rally next year to bring the leaders of Opposition parties on the same stage.
Speaking during her party’s Martyrs’ Day rally, Mamata gave a call of “BJP hatao” and said TMC will organise a rally for all Opposition parties at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground on January 19 “to take control of the country in 2019”.
“I will invite leaders from across the country for the Brigade rally. Bengal will show the way (for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls),” the TMC chief said.
The BJP was quick to retort with its national secretary Rahul Sinha announcing that they will hold a counter rally at the same venue on January 23 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the key speaker.
Speaking during Saturday’s rally, Mamata said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will not manage to win more than 150 seats in the 2019 polls. She also dismissed NDA government’s victory in Friday’s no-confidence vote, stating that the ruling coalition only enjoyed support inside the Parliament but “outside the Parliament, the BJP has already been outnumbered”.
“The government got 325 votes yesterday (Friday), while 126 went against it. But 2019 is going to be different. Yesterday AIADMK backed the government. But next year, they won’t get any seat in Tamil Nadu,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}“The government got 325 votes yesterday (Friday), while 126 went against it. But 2019 is going to be different. Yesterday AIADMK backed the government. But next year, they won’t get any seat in Tamil Nadu,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}The Bengal chief minister accused the NDA government of spreading hatred in the country to meet political ends. “They think they are bigger dictators than (Adolf) Hitler and (Benito) Mussolini. They are preaching hatred. They assumed power through riots and still have blood on their hands,” she said.
The BJP, however, brushed aside Mamata’s charges. “It is evident that Mamata Banerjee is afraid of BJP. This is going to be the last Trinamool rally in the state. From next year, they have to hold the rally in somebody’s courtyard,” Sinha said.
Predicting that BJP’s tally will fall across the country, Mamata said: “In UP, if Mayawati and Mulayam (Singh Yadav) come together, BJP will win a maximum of 30 out of 80 seats. In MP, they will get eight seats at the most. In Rajasthan, they will get a maximum of five of the 25 seats and in Gujarat, the party will not get any.”
She added that the right-wing party’s fortunes will be no better in Bihar, Odisha, Punjab and said the TMC will bag all 42 seats in Bengal.
Union minister Babul Supriyo dismissed Mamata’s poll predictions as an “indication of frustration”.