Mamata dismisses Shah's claim of 26 out of 30 seats

Chandipur: Dismissing Union Home Minister Amit Shah's claim of winning 26 out of 30 Assembly constituencies in first phase as baseless, Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee said it is none other than her party to whom people from all walks of life have cast their votes and they will only tell who will get how many seats.

"Today a leader of a political party from Delhi claimed that they will get 26 out of 30 seats in which elections held in the first phase on Saturday. Why he has left four seats? Do he left the four seats for Congress and CPIM?" she said.

"Who is he to tell how many seats a party will get? It is the people who can only tell who will get how many seats. Since there was 84 percent polling, I am confident that farmers, workers and people from all walks of life have cast their votes in our favour only," Banerjee said, without naming Shah, at Chandipur's public rally where she campaigned in favour of her party's candidate from the Assembly constituency actor Soham Chakraborty.

She also raised question that "Why they threatened electorates including 'mothers and sisters' using central force on Saturday if we have not received votes?" She criticised the manhandling of women voters and restricting a blind woman from casting her votes and urged the Central Force, paying respect to them, not to "torture women" in the state. She also threatened to initiate a "movement" if alleged atrocities by the central force do not stop immediately.

"Please do not threat people asking them to cast votes in favour of BJP. Do not touch our mothers and sisters. We will launch a massive movement if it continues," she said. Banerjee reached Nandigram within around 20 minutes after addressing the gathering at the adjacent Chandipur. She will stay at Nandigram, from where she is contesting this time, at a stretch from Sunday to the date of polls here that is on April 1.

She had received severe injuries on her leg when she was allegedly attacked at Nandigram itself, a few hours after filing nomination, on March 10. This is the first time on Sunday after the incident when she is attending a series of programme including a public meeting at Nandigram's Birulia village where she was attacked.

Before leaving for Nandigram, she raised apprehension while speaking at Chandipur that no one knows "what new plan has been fetched" against her. "You cannot stop me even if you plan to kill me. I will continue to fight for people's rights till the last breath of my life," she said.

She also took a dig at defectors Suvendu Adhikari and his father Sisir Adhikari for "backstabbing the party" despite they were provided with everything they had asked for. She attacked them saying that they "made a huge amount of money and property". "I had believed them. But just tell me that how many petrol pumps, trawlers and launches do they have now. They have joined BJP to save their black money," she said.