Invincible thus far in her own backyard, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday held out a mild rebuke for both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for destroying each other’s fortunes in Delhi and Haryana before concluding that she in any case did not need Congress’ support to win a projected two-thirds majority in the next year’s state Assembly elections.
Holding division of votes among the partners of the Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance primarily responsible for AAP’s colossal defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections Banerjee said, “Had the Congress helped the AAP in Delhi and similarly had AAP helped the Congress in Haryana both the parties would have won the elections. But that unfortunately did not happen. A lesson is required to be learnt from here,” Banerjee was quoted telling her party MLAs in a legislative party meeting ahead of the Budget Session which commenced with a gubernatorial speech on Monday.
The Chief Minister however exuded confidence in once again winning West Bengal single-handedly saying she would not require the help of the Congress as there was nothing left of the grand old party in the State. “The TMC does not need the Congress in Bengal as there is nothing left of them here. So, there is no chance of the same thing (division of votes like in Delhi or Haryana) getting repeated in Bengal,” she said.
Refusing to react to earlier statements from Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari or Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who on Sunday vowed to dislodge Banerjee from Bengal, Banerjee presaged a comeback with a massive mandate in the next year’s Assembly elections.
She said, “We shall win by two-thirds majority in Bengal … for which we will have only to keep united.”
Both Pradhan and Adhikari had said that BJP’s victory in Delhi was a signal to Mamata Banerjee that her Government would fall in 2026. “We won 77 seats in the 2021 Assembly elections and 12 Lok Sabha polls … BJP’s vote percentage was around 30-40 percent … if we can get another 10 percent votes we will win the elections in Bengal,” the Union Minister said reminding without Kolkata going into the hands of the BJP eastern India could not develop. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants eastern India to develop for which BJP’s coming to power in Bengal is necessary,” he said. A euphoric State BJP president Sukanto Majumdar even went on to suggest that the TMC Government would not last till 2026 and could fall even before that.
However, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said that the BJP was day-dreaming. “They are not in a position to win even 30 seats to match the quorum to qualify for an official opposition party,” the senior TMC leader said.
Cut to the State Assembly. The Chief Minister asked the party leaders not to speak out of turn or make statements that were embarrassing for the party or lowered its prestige.