Abhishek releases 390-pg report card, challenges BJP to bring out a leaflet

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday exuded confidence that the overall margin of votes for TMC will increase further in the forthcoming Panchayat elections in July and Lok Sabha elections in 2024, irrespective of deployment of Central forces.

“In 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly polls there was a huge deployment of Central forces but TMC’s winning streak continued unabated,” said Banerjee.

He reiterated that Trinamool is committed to fighting the Panchayat polls democratically for which he undertook Nabajowar campaign for two months and reacted with the common people from Cooch Behar to Kakdwip.

“In the last Panchayat elections in 2018, TMC had won uncontested in 34 per cent seats and since then the party under the leadership of our chairperson Mamata Banerjee had decided that there should not be a repetition of the same. I am proud to say that in almost 100 per cent seats in the three-tier Panchayat – Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayats, the Opposition parties have filed nominations which proves that our party wants to fight elections in a democratic manner allowing a level playing ground for all political parties to seek the verdict of the people. We have not put democracy at stake that the erstwhile CPI(M) used to practice during elections,“ Banerjee said while releasing the report card of the Diamond Harbour Parliamentary constituency from where he is a two-time elected MP.

Expressing his thankfulness to the Calcutta High Court for its direction of conducting the Panchayat polls through the deployment of Central forces, Banerjee said that deployment of Central forces and unleashing of Central agencies against TMC will not win elections for BJP.

“It is the people’s verdict through which you have to win elections and Trinamool Congress has been able to make inroads in the minds of the common people following the path of development and rendering all possible benefits to them,” he added.

Banerjee said that in the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the people of Diamond Harbour had provided Banerjee with the highest lead among all constituencies when he won by a record margin of 3.80 lakh votes.

“In the 2024 elections, my margin of win will be 4 lakh,” a confident Banerjee said.

Banerjee who released a report card of 390 pages describing in detail the various development work that he has done in the Diamond Harbour Parliamentary constituency and challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi of publishing a single page stating the development that he has done for the state of Bengal.

He urged the people of his constituency to accompany him to Delhi after the panchayat elections for launching a movement claiming the dues for 100 days work for Bengal that has been denied by the centre.

“We have urged the Centre several times by writing letters, and meeting the concerned ministers but the Centre has not released a single penny in connection with MGNREGA. So, be ready and I will be taking you to Delhi for snatching our dues from the centre,” he asserted.