Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that the losses suffered by the BJP in UP and Bihar by-elections marked the beginning of the end of the saffron regime even as her senior party men said the party in power in Delhi would “fall on its face” in the 2019 elections.
Banerjee currently in Darjeeling to attend a State-sponsored business summit tweeted, “Congratulations to Mayawati ji and Akhilesh Yadav ji for the UP bypolls.” She also greeted jailed RJD chief lalu Yadav after his party humbled Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) in Bihar in three by-elections counting for which was held simultaneously with the one for UP polls on Wednesday. She said, “Congratulations lalu Prasad ji for winning Araria and Jehanabad (seats). This is a great victory,” iterating “beginning of the end (of BJP rule) has started.”
In UP SP-BSP combine won the Gorakhpur and Phulpur parliamentary seats while in Bihar the RJD won Araria lok Sabha constituency and Jehanabad Assembly seat while JD(U)-BJP alliance bagged the Bhabhua Assembly seat. Once again raising the Tripura issue where the BJP recently ended the 25-year left rule senior Trinamool leaders like Firhad Hakim said, “Didi has said the right thing that BJP’s end is nearing.”
Though they are trying to play divisive politics to win in Northeastern States like Tripura those victories will be short-lived as the people will not vote for them now.”
Referring to UP and Bihar by-polls Trinamool leader Sukhendu Shekhar Roy said time had come when the people had started thinking of removing the BJP from power for its “arrogance and anti-people policies.”
The BJP has of late been coming up as a primary opposition party in Bengal shoving aside the left Front and has already started projecting itself as a challenger to the Mamata Banerjee Government.
Firmly sitting on 30 percent minority vote bank the Trinamool leaders like Subroto Mukherjee said “let the BJP first save its own backyards of UP, MP, Rajasthan and other places before looking at Bengal. Today’s election results show what the people are now thinking about BJP.”
Meanwhile, in an apparent bid to hijack the Hindutva plank from the BJP Trinamool Congress has planned to take out processions on Ramnavmi Day particularly in Birbhum district where the saffron outfit last year took out a massive rally to celebrate the birth day of lord Rama.
According to sources the State police have been instructed to withhold permission to the non-Trinamool Congress parties for any kind or procession on Ramnavmi though the ruling party leaders refused to comment on the issue.