India won, Modi lost; he must resign immediately: Mamata

Kolkata: With the Trinamool Congress (TMC) sealing a spectacular victory, party supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday demanded the resignation of PM Modi on ‘moral ground’. Banerjee also said that she is indebted to the people of Bengal. TMC won 29 seats out of the 42 in Bengal.

“Modi has no right to form the government at the Centre as he has lost credibility after the BJP failed to achieve two third majority. Modi magic has failed to cast any spell on the people. He should resign as Prime Minister on moral grounds. He had made tall claims that BJP this time will cross 400 seats. They (BJP) have disseminated various political parties in the past and now the people of the country have broken the backbone of the BJP. Modi and Amit Shah should resign as they fail to emerge as the single largest party. They will now have to seek help from Nitish Kumar and TDP. The NDA government will no longer be able to pass laws arbitrarily,” Banerjee said during a press conference.

Meanwhile, Abhishek Banerjee is set to head Delhi on Wednesday to represent Trinamool Congress in the INDIA block meeting.

Reinforcing her party’s support to the INDIA bloc, Banerjee further added: “I am very happy that Modi did not get two third majority. The arrogance of Modi and Shah has been crushed. They (BJP) will not be able to break the INDIA bloc. This victory is the victory of the people, a victory for the Opposition alliance INDIA bloc. I extend my support to all the partners of the INDIA alliance. I congratulate each and every ally of the INDIA bloc and also those who are willing to join our alliance.” She also urged the NDA alliances who are with the BJP to switch their political allegiance from the ruling party at the Centre.

Referring to the exit polls most of which kept the BJP ahead of TMC in Bengal, Banerjee once again attacked the BJP saying: “I said earlier that BJP had prepared the exit polls. I asked myself if I was a failure to understand the emotion of the people. I had been on the streets for the past 3 months. I can read the language of the people. BJP had invested huge money on fake advertisements to malign TMC. We will look into where the money comes from. We may also file defamation for turning the image of our party in the national arena.

Banerjee alleged that malpractices have been carried out during counting in some of the Lok Sabha constituencies where TMC candidates were trailing by a low margin. Alleging the Election Commission continued to support Modi, Banerjee said: “BJP observers withheld certificates of our party candidates in 4-5 places. They might help Modi to get two third majority this way. Rigging was done in Tamluk. If VVPATs are counted, Trinamool Congress will win from there. BJP observers are doing politics in Contai as well. State police personnel were not allowed to do their duty. Recounting should be done in some seats where TMC might have lost marginally.” Incidentally, BJP candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay was leading from Tamluk Lok Sabha seat while TMC candidate Debangshu Bhattacharya was trailing.

“I want to know from the ECI as to why IAS and IPS officers were changed after PM Modi had visited the state,” Banerjee added. Referring to RSS and some of the BJP leaders during former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time, Banerjee said: “BJP has some good people who had worked with Vajpayee. There are many good people in RSS as well. They should look into today’s affairs.”