West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately resign “accepting moral defeat” because he campaigned in the Lok Sabha polls claiming that the BJP would win over 400 seats but in reality, it failed to get a majority on its own.
Addressing a press conference, Banerjee said she would try to ensure that Modi is out of power from the Centre, and the “INDIA bloc is in”.
“PM Modi has lost all credibility, he should immediately resign. India has won, Modi has lost. The PM broke many parties and now people have broken his morale. Modi is now falling at the feet of TDP and Nitish (Kumar) to form the government,” she said.
Even in Varanasi, Modi suffered initial jitters, while the BJP lost in Ayodhya despite building the Ram Temple which shows people have rejected his religion-based politics, Banerjee claimed.
She said the saffron party failed to gain the majority on its own.
“In a brute show of autocracy, they (BJP) suspended 147 opposition MPs in Parliament. Now they cannot repeat such attempts any more as they will face a vocal INDIA bloc in the parliament now,” she added.
“Atrocities and misuse of central agencies stand defeated today. We will not spare the BJP, which used to intimidate us using central agencies and the two-thirds majority in Parliament. Neither will we forgive them, nor will the other parties of the INDIA bloc,” the TMC boss added.
To a question, she said she wants the Centre to release funds due to West Bengal and stop harassing people through ED and CBI.
She said her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC’s national general secretary, would join the INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday but lamented that her party has not been informed about it yet.
“They (BJP) are now praying to Nitish (Kumar) and TDP. But as much as I know them, they will not listen to BJP’s machinations,” she said.
“I have texted Rahul (congratulating him), maybe they were busy. They haven’t contacted us yet, but it doesn’t matter if they do or they don’t,” she said.
Banerjee said she had spoken to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and congratulated NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) Uddhav Thackeray.
She said that Modi has insulted Bengal and the women of the state by constantly harping on the “false allegations” of atrocities of women in Sandeshkhali,
Banerjee said “I can never pardon this BJP led by Modi and Amit Shah. There are good elements in RSS and BJP, I had good ties with Atalji (Atal Behari Vajpayee). Till the time I am alive, I won’t tolerate Bengal’s defamation by BJP leaders like Modi.”
Banerjee said she will soon file a defamation suit against the falsehood and personal attacks made by BJP leaders and some others who want to defame Bengal.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah should quit on moral ground after making “so many false claims and projections about Bengal”, she said.
A “traitor in BJP camp” has controlled the election process in West Bengal, Banerjee claimed.
She alleged that the scrapping of jobs of 26,000 teachers and the cancellation of over one lakh OBC certificates showed the sinister gameplan of the BJP to conspire against Bengal.
Banerjee congratulated the people of state for TMC’s superlative show in the Lok Sabha polls fighting negative and false propaganda by BJP and a section of the media.
“People are the real man of the match today,” she said.
Banerjee claimed that the exit poll results were fake and manufactured by the BJP.
The TMC chief alleged that the EC acted at the behest of the BJP.
On the INDIA bloc, she said, “I had offered them a few seats. I was ready to make adjustments for the cause of INDIA. However, due to the arrogance of some leaders, that did not happen. Anyway, we will be attending the INDIA bloc meeting and putting up a united fight against BJP. We are happy that INDIA won and BJP lost.”
Banerjee accused Modi and Amit Shah of threatening her party leaders of arrests and raids and even offering them money.
Banerjee said “I am offering support to all my INDIA bloc members. Let’s fight BJP together. BJP only knows to offer money to divide but we will not allow them to implement their plan.”
Pledging support to jailed AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, she said when she will visit Delhi next time “I will meet his wife.”
Asked about the defeat of state Congress chief Adhir Choudhury at the hands of TMC candidate Yusuf Pathan, she said, “He (Chowdhury) is a BJP man. People have spurned his arrogance”
