'BJP is name changer, not game changer'

Kolkata: Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party for changing the names of cities and institutions along with initiating demonetisation and playing a key role in altering the history and heritage of India.

Speaking at the extended core committee meeting of the TMC at a jam-packed Netaji Indoor Stadium on Friday, Banerjee said: "They are history-changer, policy-changer, Planning Commission-changer, note-changer, institution-changer, but not a game-changer. They a party which is making attempts to change the Constitution and the Federal structure of the country."

The TMC chief further added that the country was in danger under the current dispensation. "They (BJP) project as if they have given birth to the nation but they were nowhere during Independence," she added.

The Chief Minister's remark assumes significance as a few weeks ago the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh changed the names of two historical cities —Allahabad to Prayagraj and Faizabad to Ayodhya. Treading the same path as Adityanath, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani too said that his government was planning to change the name of Ahmedabad to Karnavati.

The Trinamool supremo attacked the scheduled 'Rath Yatra' programme of the BJP in Bengal and termed it as 'Ravan Yatra', instructing her party for the cleansing of areas through which the saffron party's chariots would pass. "Simply ignore such programmes as they are nothing else but a political gimmick. Theirs' will be a 'Rath' propagating war. We will conduct 'purification and unity yatra' the very next day with the message of peace and harmony. There will be festoons with our slogan "BJP Hatao Desh Bachao," she maintained.

BJP's Rath Yatra programme has been announced in Birbhum, Cooch Behar and South 24-Parganas in December.

The Chief Minister termed the anti-BJP mega rally at the Brigade Parade Ground on January 19, 2019, as the 'turning point', and chalked out the roadmap for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by dishing out a slew of instructions to her party members to strengthen "BJP hatao drive". She announced that her party will contest in a number of states in Lok Sabha including Jharkhand and Assam.

"All the national political parties except one or two have already confirmed their attendance at the Brigade rally. So you should remember that the mega rally will be a turning point. Delegates and supporters will be coming from states like Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. It is our duty to ensure that they face no difficulty in our state," Banerjee said.

She announced that the formation of three separate committees comprising MLAs and MPs for taking charge of the accommodation of the delegates, their transportation, reception and most importantly, publicity of the rally.

Urging her party members to pull up their socks for winning all the 42 seats in Bengal, she maintained that the TMC will fight from all major eastern and north-eastern states.

According to Banerjee, her party will fight from Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Bihar and even Andaman & Nicobar Islands in the coming Lok Sabha polls. She assigned responsibilities to a number of leaders for overseeing the party's organisational strength in these states.

"Dinesh Trivedi will be in-charge of Maharashtra," she said.

The TMC supremo also took a dig at the BJP for spending crores of money for election purpose. "We cannot spend so much money but we will have to have funds to fight the elections. The youth TMC should create an app and you should go for online donations in Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 1000 which will help us contest," she added.

Urging her party leaders to bring back those who had left it, she stated: "We have to work hard and unitedly."

Banerjee also warned her party leaders about BJP's manipulation with the EVMs. She said her party workers should test the voting machines well as the "BJP wants to malfunction 40 percent of the total EVMs".