BJP will be decimated in 2019 elections, predicts Mamata

Dumurjala: Coming down heavily on the BJP, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday predicted that the party will be defeated in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the situation will be so bad that one will need a binocular to spot the saffron brigade.

Addressing a huge gathering organised by the youth wing of the party, led by Abhishek Banerjee, on Friday afternoon, she said: "Come 2019 and BJP will be defeated in the polls... Its downfall has begun. It will continue and the party will lose power."

She further added: "I still feel parties which have strength in a particular state should fight (the BJP) there with all its strength. There should be one to one (fight)."

The Chief Minister maintained that the nervousness of the party was reflected in the Union Budget which was tabled by Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday. "It is a budget which reflects the BJP's nervousness and insecurity." She said after the Union Budget, she had asked state Finance minister Amit Mitra to give his reaction, to which the latter had said: "it was a bluff" and "a super flop."

She said the BJP has lost three seats in the by-election in Rajasthan and two seats in Bengal. She alleged that the party keeps contacts with CPI(M) and Congress clandestinely in different states and added: "because of this secret relation, neither CPI(M) nor Congress leaders who are involved in chit fund scams are arrested, while just because the Trinamool Congress raises its voice against BJP, our leaders are harassed and some are even arrested."

She urged party workers to stay united and transparent and stated that the party will launch movements on every Saturday and Sunday to protest against the hike in petrol and diesel prices. She also urged the workers to develop contacts with people.

Without naming former party leader Mukul Roy, she said: "The traitors have left the party and taken BJP's shelter for saving their back. It is good for the party that the traitors have left."

Addressing the gathering, Abhishek Banerjee, party MP and president of Trinamool Youth Congress, urged party workers to get united and ensure the victory of all the party candidates in the three-tier Panchayat elections, which will be held in a few months.

"We should work hard to increase the margin of each and every candidate. We should go to the people and build contacts, while at the same time, we should remain united," he said.

Coming down heavily on the BJP, he said the results of the Gujarat Assembly polls have clearly shown that the BJP is fast losing grip. "Come 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP will be defeated. See the results of by-elections in Rajasthan and Bengal. BJP is down by 5-0."

He said the Trinamool Congress was not built in a day and its success is the result of sustained movements launched by Mamata Banerjee. "The BJP thinks that by spending money, they can buy the voters in Bengal. It is not so easy. People in Bengal have supported Mamata Banerjee's movements and so in every election, TMC candidates are increasing their margin."