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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has launched an attack on the BJP as parts of Indian the state went to polls, asserting that she would shift her focus to Delhi after winning the assembly elections.
Speaking at a rally in Kolkata’s Chowringhee on Thursday, the chief minister, who has been in office for 15 years, said she would “dismantle” the BJP at the centre by bringing together Opposition parties, Indian broadcaster NDTV reported.
“Remember this, you cannot defeat us. We fight against injustice; we fight for our rights. I was born in Bengal, and I shall breathe my last in this very Bengal. I will take over Delhi once I have secured victory in Bengal. I will do so by rallying all the political parties together. I won’t want the seat (of power); I want the complete dismantling of the BJP in Delhi. While their destruction in Bengal is inevitable, the BJP must be ousted from Delhi as well,” the chief minister was reported as saying by NDTV.
Banerjee was campaigning for party candidate and two-time sitting MLA Nayna Bandopadhyay, who is contesting against the BJP’s Santosh Pathak.
Targeting the BJP, she reportedly said she had “noted down” the names of those working for the party.
Senior BJP leader Amit Shah, who is campaigning in Kolkata, was left “amused” by Banerjee’s remark.
NDTV reported him as saying, “There is nothing left here. How will she come to Delhi? What should I say?”
According to NDTV, while Banerjee was campaigning in Chowringhee on Thursday, around 33.5 million voters cast their ballots across 152 constituencies in other parts of the state.
The Chowringhee seat, held by the Trinamool Congress since 2011, is scheduled to vote in the second phase on Apr 29 along with other Kolkata constituencies.
NDTV also reported that in the first phase of polling, Bengal recorded a 92.8 percent voter turnout, marking a record level of participation after a 9 million deletion from the voter roll during a revision earlier this year.