Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee during a television interview on Friday expressed confidence that his party’s performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will surpass that of 2019.
He predicted an increase in both the number of seats and the vote share for the ruling dispensation in Bengal.
In response to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement predicting a decrease in Trinamool Congress’ seats this year with BJP gaining strength, Banerjee retorted: “Shah had previously claimed they would secure 200 seats before the 2021 Assembly elections. Unlike Shah, I’m not a mathematician, but it’s evident to me that Trinamool Congress will improve its performance this year in both seats and vote share compared to 2019.”
Criticising the BJP on the corruption front, he said: “Those facing corruption allegations are considered assets by the BJP. Despite the Prime Minister’s statements against corruption during his Bengal visit, it’s noteworthy that an individual seated beside him on the dais was captured on television allegedly accepting bribes.”
Rubbishing CPI(M’s) and Congress’ allegations against him that he has some understanding with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), Banerjee said: “If I had any understanding with the Central agencies, would they have summoned me12 times. The names of these people who are accusing me cropped up in connection with the Sarada incident but they were not summoned. Saradha chief Sundipto Sen mentioned the name of Adhir Chowdhury but he was not summoned. CPI(M’s) Sujan Chakraborty’s name came up in the Saradha case but he was not summoned by the ED.”
About the selection of former Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan for the Berhampore seat, Banerjee said: “We have not gone there to defeat Adhir Chowdhury. We have gone there to win. It is not our lookout as to who will come second or third.”
On the CAA issue, Banerjee said it was a political gimmick and hence the BJP government took so much time formulating laws. “Even the notification they published failed to give any direction and procedure,” he remarked.
He continued that the BJP government “aims to implement NRC after CAA”.
The TMC leader said that he has no ‘problem supporting CAA if the BJP-led Centre does not implement NRC at all’.
When asked about Prashant Kishore, Banerjee termed him as “overhyped”. Prashant Kishore was once associated with IPAC which is involved in campaign strategy work with Trinamool Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Kishore severed ties with IPAC a long time ago.
A few days ago, Kishore said in an interview that the BJP will not do worse in this Lok Sabha election in Bengal than last time (2019).
Kishore earlier hinted at a ‘possible potential for a surprising result by the BJP this time’.