A day when the Trinamool Congress leadership paid a third visit to the Election Commission of India office asking for early by-elections to seven Assembly seats in Bengal, State BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday called Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a “power hungry” person who could stoop to any level to cling on to power.
Ghosh was reacting to TMC’s petition to the ECI seeking early conduct of Assembly by-elections.
“The Trinamool is building pressure on the ECI to conduct early elections because they want to save Mamata Banerjee’s Chief Ministerial chair … because she has entered the State Assembly through back door and become a Chief Minister even after losing the Assembly elections to Suvendu Adhikari and it is mandatory for her to get elected within six months to save her high seat they are now building pressure on the ECI to hold elections defying the pandemic norms,” Ghosh said.
“These are power-hungry people and they cannot leave without power … they can shed their skins but they cannot shed power … what is the problem in leaving the CM’s chair for some time … they already have 213 seats and they can easily run the Government … let her step down and allow anyone to become the CM till a regular election is held … where is the problem … but no she will not … her hunger for power will make her cling to the post.” Earlier a team of TMC leaders led by senior parliamentarian Saugato Roy, Derek O’ Brien, Mahua Moitra and others met the EC officials demanding early by elections in seven Assembly seats of the State.
“We told them that while the State elections were held in April-May the daily cases were about 17-18 thousand which has come down to about 830 … if elections could be held then there is no reason why it cannot be held now when the situation is far better,” Moitra said.
The BJP however said that the TMC was in a hurry to conduct polls in order to save the Chief Minister’s chair.
“If the situation is conducive for holding elections then why Mamata Banerjee is not allowing the local trains to run, why the schools and colleges are still closed, why they are still continuing with other restrictions including the night curfews and why the opposition parties are not being allowed to conduct political programmes,” Ghosh said adding first Mamata Banerjee should hold civic elections, first she should lift other restrictions before asking the ECI for holding the by-polls.”
The TMC leadership reacted saying the “BJP knows that they would be swept away if the elections are held right now … they do not want to more political humiliation and so they are trying to stonewall the electoral process.”