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Journalism of Courage
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday claimed that the INDIA bloc would form the government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections end and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will support it from the outside.
Addressing a rally in support of TMC’s Hooghly candidate Rachna Banerjee in Chinsura, Mamata said, “The BJP will lose in the first four phases of the polls. There is no chance of it winning in the remaining three. They will make a lot of noise, but they will not be able to win. Many people are making big calculations. I am talking about Delhi. We will provide leadership to the INDIA alliance, and help them in every way from outside… So that my mother and sisters in Bengal don’t face any difficulties, so that the beneficiaries of the 100 Days’ work scheme do not face any difficulties.”
Along with the TMC, the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are among the Opposition parties that form the INDIA bloc. While the Congress and the CPI(M) are contesting the Lok Sabha polls together, the TMC had earlier announced that it would go it alone in the state. In the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, the Congress has fielded candidates in 12 constituencies and the CPI(M) in the rest.
“Don’t count the Bengal Congress and CPI(M), those two are not with us. Those two are with the BJP,” the TMC supremo added.
Mamata also hit out at the Election Commission of India (ECI) and said the poll panel was a “puppet” working under the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The EC is a puppet and operates according to Modi’s directions. Polls are being conducted for two-and-half months, have you (poll officials) ever realised the struggle of the common people?” she asked.
Polling in Hooghly will be held in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Monday. Rachna, a popular TV show host, is pitted against BJP candidate and Hooghly sitting MP Locket Chatterjee.
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