KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said “Congress has lost its credibility” and stressed that all parties opposed to BJP should come together ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Debunking PM Narendra Modi’s statement that 2022 will pave the way for 2024, Banerjee dubbed it “impractical” and “daydreaming”. “Anything can happen between now and the next two years,” she said.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the Bengal budget presentation, the CM said: “All political parties that want to fight BJP should walk together. Congress is losing its credibility. We cannot depend on Congress. If Congress wants, we all can fight together. Do not be aggressive for now, be positive. This win (assembly polls in four states) will be a big loss for BJP. Their saying that the 2022 election results will decide the fate of 2024 polls is impractical.”
She reasoned that “with opposition parties fighting separately, anti-BJP votes are getting split. And on the other hand, BJP is gaining due to the split votes”.
Targeting BJP, Banerjee said: “With the election machinery, central agencies and autocracy, they won a few state polls and are jumping with joy. Who knows whether I will be around two years from now? They are trying to put the cart before the horse. They are consistently losing in Bengal, and can’t even hold on to wards where they (their leaders) stay.”
A strong votary of an opposition that includes Congress as against a Congress-led opposition, the CM has consistently argued that the latter option automatically excludes parties opposed to both BJP and Congress and are in office in their states.
Opposition parties are likely to meet in Parliament for the March 14-April 8 session.
The CM questioned BJP’s Uttar Pradesh poll victory in the backdrop of EVM tampering allegations. She said: “This verdict is because of blatant use of election machinery to loot votes.”
Banerjee further said “(SP chief) Akhilesh Yadav increased his vote share from 20% to 37% and increased its tally by 78 seats”. “There was loot and malpractices of EVM. Akhilesh didn’t lose due to people’s mandate, and should not be disheartened and should seek forensic tests of the same EVMs,” she added.
On Trinamool Congress’s Goa foray, the CM said: “TMC got 6% votes in Goa within three months of the party’s launch there. It is enough.”
