Kolkata: Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress national general secretary, said the party will get more than 132 seats in the forthcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation election.
He was addressing a gathering following a roadshow on Friday afternoon. The roadshow, which started at Ballygunge Phari at 2 pm, ended at Kalighat at 4.30 pm after covering a distance of 5 kms.
The KMC election will be held on December 19 and the campaigning came to an end at 5 pm on Friday.
Abhishek said: "When people vote in favour of the TMC candidates, they will actually vote for Mamata Banerjee. In all the 144 seats, she is the candidate."
Abhishek cautioned people against the BJP as it might create trouble in five to seven wards. "The BJP has lost the ground below its feet and so out of sheer desperation, they might create trouble. Keep your eyes and ears open. We have information that the BJP will foment trouble in five to seven wards. If BJP tries to instigate trouble, we will have to resist such bids. We have to be alert," he said.
He said the election should be held peacefully and look like a festival. "There should be free and fair election and anyone from the TMC found to adopt unfair means for personal gains will be thrown out of the party."
Coming down heavily on the BJP, the TMC national general secretary said: "It is a political party that only tries to incite religious sentiments and makes false promises to win polls. After the results of the 2021 Assembly elections in May, you do not find a single leader coming to our state."
He said there is falsehood on one side and development on the other. "Kolkata has changed a lot after Mamata Banerjee took over in 2011. The roads are smooth and illuminated. There are problems of waterlogging and drinking water scarcity in some pockets. These issues will be addressed and 50 pumping stations with 200 pumps to clear accumulated water from the city streets will be set up."
Abhishek added that the TMC has published a manifesto where the schemes that will be taken up in the next five years have been clearly laid down. "We stand by our promise and these projects will be taken up to beautify the city."
The Diamond Harbour MP then attempted to draw a contrast in the situation during polls in a BJP-ruled state with that of a TMC-ruled state. Looking back to the recently concluded polls in Tripura, he said: "TMC was prevented from carrying out politi-cal activities by the ruling BJP in Tripura with our cars being damaged, our party offices torched, our supporters' houses vandal-ised and our men and women attacked."
"However, not a single attack has taken place on any opposition candidate since the dates of Municipal Corporation polls for Kolkata were announced 20 days ago. In a democracy, every party has the right to carry out its activities freely. The TMC be-lieves in that but the BJP doesn't," Banerjee added.
TMC leaders, including Subrata Bakshi, Firhad Hakim, Debashis Kumar, Sandip Bakshi, Sourav Basu and Kajari Banerjee took part in the rally. Thousands of people stood on either side of the stretch. Abhishek waved at them and greeted them with folded hands.