Sunset on BJP has started from Goa, UP, Punjab: Mamata

Assonora: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday claimed the "sun has started setting" for the BJP in states like Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where Assembly polls are due in 2022, and this trend will continue and cover the entire country.

Banerjee, in a veiled attack on the Prime Minister, who took a dip in the River Ganga during the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor in Varanasi on Monday, said he remembers the River Ganga, which is regarded as the 'mai' (mother) by lakhs, only during elections to get votes while hundreds of bodies of Covid victims got dumped into the river during the pandemic in BJP-ruled states.

Addressing a public meeting here, formally announcing TMC's pre-poll alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), which is the state's oldest regional outfit, for the upcoming Goa elections, she said: "Before the election, he took a holy dip in the River Ganga and went to Uttarakhand temple to meditate, but when people died of Covid, their bodies were thrown into the river to make it impure and then nobody saw him anywhere near the river. This is a cheap election gimmick."

She also said that everyone should come together, irrespective of their religion and community, to "save" Goa from the BJP, the state's ruling party. "Save Goa from disaster...this is my slogan," Banerjee said.

She added that the TMC and the MGP will work together and no one can stop this combination from winning the upcoming polls.

"We have not come here to rule. The people of Goa will govern themselves and we will assist them to carry out all-round development," she said, urging people to vote for TMC as it is the only viable opposition against the BJP.

"The people of Goa are fed up with the highhandedness and divisive politics of BJP and they are seeking an alternative," she claimed.

Criticising the Congress for its policy to fight alone, she said: "In Bengal, they are fighting against TMC. I had left Congress because I found that the party was not serious enough to oust the CPI(M)." Banerjee raised the slogan "save Goa from the BJP" and Khela Hobe and sought the cooperation of all to oust the BJP in the 2022 Assembly elections.

Slamming the BJP for spreading lies that Durga Puja was not allowed in Bengal, she said: "BJP speaks only lies. The highest number of Durga Pujas is held in Bengal and the state government had given Rs 50,000 to every club to organise the mega festival. Not only Durga Puja, people of Bengal also take part in religious festivals of all the communities with equal enthusiasm," she said, adding: "BJP thinks that we should take certificates from them to follow our religion."

The TMC supremo added that no one can isolate the minorities in India because they are a part and parcel of India's culture and heritage. "Whenever there is an election, BJP plays the communal card and forgets the promises it made before the polls once the same is over," she maintained.

Referring to the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, Banerjee said: "The SIT said it was a planned conspiracy and in view of this, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh should resign." The TMC chairperson added that the BJP had duped the people of Goa. "No development has been carried out in the past five years. The high prices of fuel and essential commodities have made the lives of the common man miserable." She said if voted to power, her party would implement schemes for women, students and fishermen.