‘TMC won’t attend PM’s Modi swearing-in… cannot wish best to this government’: Mamata Banerjee

After the meeting, Mamata Banerjee announced that her party has appointed MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay as the leader in the Lok Sabha while Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar will take the role of the deputy leader. Kalyan Banerjee has been named the chief whip in the Lok Sabha.

In the Rajya Sabha, TMC MP Derek O’Brien has been elected as the party leader. He will be supported by Sagarika Ghose as the deputy leader and Nadimul Haque will be the Rajya Sabha chief whip.

These appointments aim to strengthen the TMC’s parliamentary presence and streamline leadership roles within both the Houses.

“Today, INDIA (bloc) did not stake claim but that does not mean they will not claim in future. Country needs change. Nobody wants Modi. After this result, he (Modi) should (have) stepped down. I do not know how much they can satisfy their alliance partners. In INDIA, there is no give and take. But in NDA, team members’ expectations are higher. INDIA bloc partners are dedicated and determined. I think this government will not continue for long,” Banerjee said.

She also claimed that her party in the Lok Sabha elections could have “won 35 seats in West Bengal”. She said, “The ECI (Election Commission of India) and the CAPF (Central Armed Police Force) jointly defeated us in five-six seats. Otherwise, we would have won 35 seats instead of 29 seats.”

When the Parliament starts functioning, she said her party’s members will not sit idle. She said, “Our MPs are not going to Parliament to sit idle. They will be vocal to stop the NRC and the CAA.”

Mamata Banerjee also said, a four-member team of the TMC — Derek O’Brian, Sagarika Ghose, Dola Sen and Nadimul Haque — will go to Punjab to show solidarity to the movement of the farmers.