Kolkata: In a blow to hopes of a grand Opposition alliance towards the BJP on the Centre, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has vowed to go it alone in subsequent 12 months’s Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to reporters after the ruling TMC misplaced the Sagardighi bypoll in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, to the Congress on Thursday, Mamata mentioned the outcome uncovered the “unholy alliance” of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, and the CPI(M), including that her get together may and can combat all three rival political forces alone.
She additionally accused the three events of taking part in the “communal card”.
“If the Congress and the CPI(M) fight Mamata Banerjee with the help of the BJP, how can they call themselves anti-BJP? All of them have been playing the communal card (to polarise voters). This is very unfortunate. This (defeat in Sagardighi) is a lesson for us, that we should no longer trust Congress or the CPI(M). We cannot go with parties that are with the BJP. Our alliance will be with the people. They (Congress) may have won the election but it is a moral defeat for them,” the TMC chief mentioned.
Further, weighing in on the TMC`s loss within the Sagardighi bypoll, Banerjee mentioned, “Of course, we lost the bypoll. I don’t blame anyone. In elections, there are victories and defeats. But it is this immoral alliance between the other political parties that we strongly condemn. As part of this unholy alliance, all CPI(M) and BJP votes went to Congress. I want to ask these parties, why are you going into such alliances covertly?”
Left-backed Congress candidate Bayron Biswas gained the Sagardighi bypolls, trouncing the TMC’s Debashish Banerjee by a whopping 22,986 votes.
Speaking on the TMC faring poorly within the Meghalaya election, the Bengal CM mentioned, “There was some confusion in Meghalaya. Voters thought that I was also with Congress as both parties have the word ‘Congress’ in common. Since I was with the Congress earlier, the voters may have been confused seeing my pictures from the Congress days. We`ll work to remove all confusion.”
“I must congratulate the people of Meghalaya (for helping TMC win five seats). We (TMC) started (campaigning in Meghalaya) just 6 months ago and still got 15 per cent of the total votes polled. This will help enhance our national party status and also enable us to strengthen our hold on the state as the principal Opposition party. We`ll do better in the next elections,” the Bengal CM added.
According to the ultimate tally of seats launched by the Election Commission, the BJP crossed the bulk mark in Tripura, successful 32 seats and garnering about 39 per cent of the entire votes polled.
The fledgling Tipra Motha led by royal scion Pradyut Deb Barman completed second in Tripura, successful 13 seats.
The CPI(M) and the Congress, which fought the Tripura polls collectively, bagged a mixed rely of 14 seats. The Indigenous People`s Front of Tripura (IPFT), an ally of the BJP, gained a lone seat.
Significantly, nonetheless, the TMC couldn’t open its account in Tripura. The CPI(M) and the Congress, arch rivals in Kerala, got here collectively within the Northeast this time in a bid to oust the BJP from energy. However, the mixed vote share of the CPI(M) and Congress was solely about 33 per cent. Earlier, Mamata had known as for Opposition unity to combat the BJP in subsequent 12 months`s Lok Sabha polls.
Banerjee, in the meantime, additionally hailed the path of the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, to represent a panel comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India, to pick out chief election commissioners.
“Only the SC, our highest judiciary and the pillar of democracy, can protect our democratic rights and save this country. The TMC had been pleading for this (direction) for a long and I am really happy that the SC issued this order. This is a victory for the people.”
