Weeks after predicting that her I.N.D.I.A. ally Congress would struggle to get 40 seats in the Lok Sabha, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday predicted that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc would win at least 315 seats while the BJP would win a maximum of 195 seats. “The I.N.D.I.A. bloc will come to power after this election. But here in Bengal, we are fighting the BJP alone as the Congress and the Left are helping the BJP,” she claimed.
“The polling so far has been good. That is why the leaders of the ruling party at the Centre are tense. They have realised that Narendra Modi will not be back as the Prime Minister.
They should not brag about 400 seats anymore. They will only win 195 seats while the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will win 315,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said at an election rally at Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency in North 24 Parganas district on Monday.
Addressing a meeting in the backward dominated constituency, she continued with her public stance on the National Register of Citizens, Mamata Banerjee said she would not allow implementation of NRC in the State. She said that the people of the Matua community would have to fill the applications under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to get citizenship.
“If the Prime Minister has so much love for the Matuas, he should grant them citizenship without asking them to fill up the CAA form. We are determined to stop the implementation of CAA at any cost. If they want to do it, they will have to do it over my dead body,” the Chief Minister said.
The Trinamool supremo said: “I will not allow NRC… Names of 19 lakh Hindu Bengalis have been removed from the list in Assam…If they ask me for my parents’ certificate, I don’t even know their birthdays, from where will I get the certificate? If they ask you to bring a certificate from 50 years ago, then you should first tell the BJP candidates to apply (for CAA). Why are you not applying, because you will become a foreigner? If they themselves will not apply, then why will you apply? Why is your Minister Shantanu Thakur not applying for CAA then? I challenge you to enforce NRC and Uniform Civil Code here,” she said.
Reiterating her opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Mamata Banerjee described it as a “trap”, which would be followed by the National Register of Citizens (NRC). “The CAA is a trap to turn legal citizens into foreigners. We would allow neither the CAA nor the NRC in West Bengal,” Ms. Banerjee said while addressing the gathering.
She also ridiculed the five-point guarantee announced by the Prime Minister from an election meeting at Barrackpore yesterday.
“Such guarantees are baseless since they will never be fulfilled,” the Chief Minister said.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that there would be no religion-based reservation; continuation of reservation for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the other backward classes; ensuring celebration of Ram Navami throughout India including West Bengal; no amendment of the Supreme Court order on Ram Temple; and implementation of CAA.
Mamata Banerjee, in her speech, also accused the BJP of spending crores of rupees to tarnish the image of West Bengal by fueling unrest in Sandeshkhali. “They are insulting the women of Sandeshkhali,” the Chief Minister said.
“Don’t touch our women, this is not your Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh. Women in Bengal live with respect and dignity,” Banerjee said.
The Trinamool Congress also accused the saffron party of using Central forces to intimidate the ruling party workers in border districts.