BJP's seat count will not cross 125, says Mamata

Kolkata: Just 48 hours before the historic rally of the Federal Front scheduled to be held at the Brigade Parade Ground on January 19, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee stated that the BJP will not get more than 125 seats in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Talking to newsmen after inspecting the venue on Thursday afternoon, she said: "BJP will get 125 seats at the most and power will be in the hands of the regional parties."

It may be mentioned that she took the initiative to form the Federal Front comprising all the Opposition parties as she felt that once united, the Opposition will easily defeat the BJP.

All the front rank national leaders and their representatives are coming to attend the meeting on January 19.

Calling the meeting as the "united India meeting" she said: "Akhilesh Yadav, Deve Gowdaji, M K Stalin, Sharad Pawarji, Farooq and Omar Abdullah will arrive on Friday. Arvind Kejriwal and Tejashwi Yadav will come on January 19. Satish Chandra Sharma of the BSP is coming to attend the rally as well," she said. Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Abhishek Manu Singhvi will attend the programme, she said.

Banerjee further maintained that the meeting will start at 12 noon. "The all-India leaders will express their views. If time permits, I will request them to address a press conference after the rally," she said.

Mamata Banerjee along with Abhishek, the All India Trinamool Youth Congress president and convener of the meeting, inspected the ground. Rajeev Kumar, Commissioner of Police and other senior police officials were also present.

Around 8,500 policemen will be deployed in and around the Brigade Parade Ground. There will be 12 Deputy Commissioners of Police and 29 Assistant Commissioners of Police. Drones will be deployed to intensify vigil. There will be 1,000 plainclothes policemen along with Special Task Force and Anti Rowdy Squad personnel. No cooking will be allowed at the rally ground. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will send water tankers. Around 250 KMC sweepers, battery-operated vehicles and mobile compactors will be used to clean the venue and spray water to control dust.

Around 50 lakh people are expected to attend the rally. Trinamool Congress supporters have started pouring in from Thursday morning itself. The party supporters from Malda are being accommodated at the Gitanjali Stadium.

TMC workers from North Bengal have been put up at the Central Park in Salt Lake. Abhishek Banerjee visited Uttirno to oversee the arrangements.

Jyotipriya Mallick, the state Food minister, said: "Every arrangement has been made to welcome our party colleagues who will come from the districts and then take them to the venue. We will ensure that they return safely."