shadow

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday lashed out at the political pushback against her party’s plans to expand outside of West Bengal, soon after the drubbing the TMC suffered at the hands of the BJP in the Tripura civic body polls.

“I want to see BJP out of this country politically. If Congress is contesting in Bengal, why can’t I do so in Goa?,” Mamata Banerjee said during an interaction with members of the civil society in Mumbai.

The Bengal chief minister said it was important to stay in the field and fight against the BJP, otherwise they will “bowl you out”.

“If all regional parties are together then it will be easy to defeat BJP. I had to move out from Bengal even though things are good in the state so that others also move out and there is competition,” she said.

Mamata Banerjee is on a visit to Maharashtra, where she is holding back-to-back meetings with other Opposition party leaders. On Tuesday, the Bengal CM met with Shiv Sena leaders Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut. She is scheduled to meet NCP president Sharad Pawar later today.

Taking aim at the BJP-led central government, Mamata Banerjee said the Centre’s decision to revoke the farm laws as well as the recent reduction in fuel prices were calculated moves with the upcoming polls in mind.

“During election time, PM Modi is scared and hence prices of petrol and diesel go down. But the rest of the time, their prices rise. The farm laws were repealed with elections in mind,” she said.

The TMC chief, on the other hand, claimed to not just talk the talk, but also walk the walk.

“It’s the habit of politicians to talk more but I like to talk less and walk more,” she quipped.

ALSO READ | Party time for Mamata’s TMC in states where Congress is jittery

Asked about the controversial Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Mamata Banerjee said the ruling party was misusing the draconian law to settle scores and quell dissent by going after Opposition leaders and detractors.

“UAPA is not for civic society. It’s being misused now. I don’t have a personal grudge against any agency but they are being misused. If BJP goes out and we are in power, I can assure you there will be no law that is against the people. Constructive criticism is needed,” she said.

Author

India today

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *