'BJP leaders can become President or Vice-President but will not allow them to sell Bengal till my last breath'
Nandigram: After her dramatic announcement to contest from Nandigram, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, without naming the Adhikari family, hit out saying that some people were busy switching sides but there was nothing to worry about.
For them, a local district-level leader like Suprakash Giri is enough, she added. "Let them first contest Giri, then we will talk about fighting against Trinamool," Banerjee maintained.
In the party's initial days, the turncoats were nowhere in the picture. Akhil Giri contested from Nandigram and claimed the second spot. It is important to note that then the erstwhile Left Front regime was pretty strong in the area and it was a huge challenge for TMC to make a mark, she added.
With Banerjee's return to Nandigram, it is a direct challenge for Suvendu Adhikari and his close aides who defected to the saffron camps weeks ago.
"Those who have left the TMC and joined BJP, I hope, one day they will realise their mistake. TMC has given them everything, nothing more is left to offer. In a damning attack against the BJP, Banerjee called it a 'washing machine' party where political leaders with unscrupulous antecedents, especially in relation to black money, turn saints once they join the saffron party.
Drawing this parallel metaphor, she said the BJP is busy 'cleaning' the corrupt leaders who looted public money and are projecting themselves as saints.
Their leaders can become the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister or whatever they wish to, she said but "I will not allow them to sell Bengal till my last breath".
The BJP has circulated fake videos on Pulwama just before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, she said and warned people not to fall for the trap.
"Do not trust them. They can do anything with money power," she added.
Nandigram has been the most prestigious Assembly constituencies for the TMC as mass movements, including the land acquisition in Nandigram and Singur during 2006-08 paved the path for Banerjee's political resurrection.
