By – Prakarsh Kastwar
When the TMC fielded candidates for all 42 seats in Bengal on March 10, Banerjee declared that her party would run against the Congress, BJP, and Left.
Kolkata : Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and chief minister Mamata Banerjee said at her first Lok Sabha campaign rally on Sunday that the alliance Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist), or the CPI(M), has formed in West Bengal is a conspiracy and that voting for it will be equivalent to voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“I established the alliance INDIA. I gave it a name too. When the election is over, I will investigate. However, Bengal has not formed any alliances. The coalition that the Congress and CPI(M) have established is a plot. Supporting the Congress will also support the BJP. To vote for the CPI(M) is to vote for the BJP. While campaigning for Mahua Moitra, the candidate from Krishnanagar, Banerjee declared, “We are fighting alone against all three.”
Moitra was ousted from the Lok Sabha in December of last year due to an alleged bribe-for-query case that is being investigated by government agencies, despite having won the seat in 2019.
Despite Banerjee’s criticism of the Congress, CPI(M), and BJP, members of her party’s parliament attended the INDIA group’s march on Sunday at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi to protest Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged excise policy fraud.
With TMC leaders there alongside their equivalents from the other 27 parties in the INDIA group, it was clear that Banerjee’s attack on the Congress and the Left stemmed from her desire to prevent the BJP from gaining anti-establishment votes in Bengal.
On March 10, when the TMC fielded candidates for all 42 seats in Bengal, Banerjee stated that her party would compete against the BJP, Left, and Congress.
In response to Banerjee’s remarks during the gathering, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty stated, “TMC has fielded three candidates who are officially still in BJP, and BJP has fielded several who were in TMC.” The two parties’ agreement is publicly available. “Voters will not be misled.”
Bengal Congress spokesperson Soumya Aich Roy responded by saying,
The senior leadership of the BJP in Delhi drafts her speeches. He declared, “You will never see Mamata Banerjee criticizing the BJP on important economic issues related to the future of the country.”
Banerjee charged that the BJP was selectively releasing those who were aligning with the saffron camp while deploying government agencies against opposition figures.
“If you (BJP) are so certain in winning 400 seats, why are you utilizing ED, CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation], and Income Tax (Department)? Mahua has been targeted because she spoke out against the BJP. Her parents’ home was also ransacked. Those who join the BJP are placed in a washing machine, and the charges are dropped. “Someone named Patel came out of the washing machine the other day,” Banerjee explained
It was an obvious allusion to Praful Patel, who left the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alongside numerous other politicians eight months ago to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
On March 19, the CBI filed its closure report in the Indian Airlines-Air India merger case before a Delhi court. Patel was a prime suspect because the merger was planned during his time as Union Aviation Minister.
At the gathering, Banerjee made back-to-back allusions to Nadia’s Dalit supporters and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which the Centre implemented on March 11.
Nadia district, which borders Bangladesh, has a Hindu population of 72.15%, one of the largest in Bengal. Nadia has 17 assembly segments, 14 of which are two Lok Sabha constituencies: Krishnanagar and Ranaghat. The BJP seized Ranaghat in 2019, setting a record by winning 18 of Bengal’s 42 seats. The party has now set a target of over 25.
Dalits and Namasudras make up a sizable proportion of Nadia’s Hindu population, having arrived in Bengal as refugees from Bangladesh following Partition in 1947 and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The Matua people are members of the Namasudra population.
CAA, which was passed by Parliament in 2019, grants citizenship to Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, Parsi, and Sikh refugees who fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and arrived in India before 2015. Banerjee has criticized CAA, claiming that “it is unconstitutional to link citizenship to faith in a secular country.”
“The CAA is closely linked to the NRC (National Register of Citizens). CAA is the head, whereas NRC is the leg. If you apply for citizenship, you will become trapped under the NRC. We will not allow anyone to become a refugee again. “Your children attend school, and you have jobs,” Banerjee stated on Sunday.
The BJP has fielded Amrita Roy from Krishnanagar, a member of Krishnanagar’s former royal dynasty who assisted the British in defeating Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, which marked the beginning of the British empire that lasted till independence.
The BJP is currently depicting Siraj-ud-Daula, Bengal’s last independent nawab, as corrupt and a Hindu tormentor, while referring to Roy as Rajmata (queen mother). Roy joined the BJP on March 20, despite having no prior political experience.
Banerjee criticized the BJP for leaking an audio clip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s phone conversation with Roy on March 26. During the debate, both hailed Krishnanagar’s 18th-century King Krishnachandra Roy for assisting Lord Clive, the East India Company’s general, in the Battle of Plassey.
Banerjee said, “I’m not going to argue about whether Siraj-ud-Daula was good or bad.” He fought Lord Clive, but his name has been linked to politics as well. The Prime Minister mentioned someone who was Clive’s friend and helped him fight Siraj-ud-Daula. If this continues, I will uncover certain historical events.
“Someone is referred to as Rajmata. Who is a Rajmata in independent India? If kings are still alive, they should remain in their palaces. “Everybody is a king or queen in (free) India,” the Bengal Chief Minister added.
According to Banerjee, during his talk with Roy, Modi also stated that the Centre is seeking legal advice on how an amount of roughly Rs.3000 crore that the ED has attached in West Bengal in the pay-for-job case might be released to job seekers who paid the bribe.
She stated, “This is a jumla [propaganda] regime. They make only false promises. Have you received the Rs.15 lakh they promised (in 2014)? They are now suggesting that money seized by the ED would be refunded. For three years, the Centre has not paid anything for 100 days of work (under MNREGA). According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 90% of India’s educated young are unemployed. Modi’s administration has only resulted in unemployment. All they do is cut ribbons at inaugurations. Pray for Bangladesh and India. The country is having a rough moment.”
Bengal BJP chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya stated that Banerjee appeared unhappy at her first rally.
“She appeared to be speaking in frustration. She claims to be a poet and painter. People expect something new from creative people, but Banerjee simply rehashed what she had said a million times before,” remarked Bhattacharya.