BJP hatao, desh bachao: Mamata's rallying poll cry

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today gave a call to oust the BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections and accused the saffron party of trying to create an atmosphere of "lynching, hatred and violence".

The Trinamool Congress chief's comments come after a man, Akbar Khan, was allegedly lynched by a group of people on the suspicion of smuggling cows in Rajasthan's Alwar district last night.

"The BJP is trying to create an atmosphere of Talibans, lynching, hatred and violence. We don't believe in their concept of Hinduism. Those who now rule the country have bloodstains on their hands," the TMC supremo said at the party's massive annual Martyrs' Day rally here,.

"Everyday people are being lynched. Today also, one person was lynched. They (BJP) have unleashed religious terrorism. Before lecturing the states to take steps against those involved in lynching they should ask their own leaders to behave," Banerjee said

Giving call of 'BJP hatao, desh bachao', the chief minister asserted that her party would win all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state and BJP's strength would drastically come down to 150.

Banerjee also took a dig at the saffron party for the collapse of a makeshift tent at PM Narendra Modi's rally at Midnapore in the state. "They cannot build a pandal. How can they build the country?" she wondered.

The TMC supremo, who mooted the idea of a federal front, said she would hold a mega rally of Opposition parties in Bengal in January and sound the poll bugle to capture the power in Delhi after the next Lok Sabha polls. "We (TMC) don't bother about the chair. We only bother about the people and the country.

"We will win all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It is our pledge. We will oust the BJP to save the country," she said, stating that Bengal would show the way to the country after the next general elections.

Attributing the NDA government's big-margin victory during yesterday's no-confidence vote to the AIADMK, she said, "The BJP is outnumbered outside the Parliament. In 2019 Lok Sabha election, their strength will come down to barely 150 seats." Banerjee added that the BJP's Lok Sabha seats decrease in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal.

Describing demonetisation as the "biggest scam" in the country, she said her party was not afraid of the CBI and ED, which has been "used by the Centre time and again to pursue political vendetta".

Keeping up her attack against the BJP, Banerjee said, "They (Modi) are talking about 2024. But let them first cross 2019. Our political fight against the BJP will continue".

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP, Chandan Mitra, who had resigned from the BJP a few days back, joined the TMC in Banerjee's presence at the rally, along with four Congress MLAs and former CPI(M) MP Moinul Hassan. The Congress MLAs who joined her party are Samar Mukherjee, Abu Taher, Sabina Yasmin and Akhruzzman.

Accusing the Congress, BJP and the CPI(M) of joining hands in Bengal against her party, she asked the Congress to make clear its stand. "In Delhi they (Congress) seek our support to oppose the BJP, but here they are opposing us. They should not adopt double standards," she added.