MP Abhishek Banerjee campaigns for TMC candidate Shatrughan Sinha in Asansol on Saturday. (Twitter) TMC MP and the party’s national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, on Saturday called on the people of Asansol to root out the BJP in the April 12 Lok Sabha bypoll.
Addressing a public meeting after leading a roadshow in favour of the TMC’s Asansol candidate Shatrughan Sinha on Saturday, Banerjee said, “This election is not just to elect a candidate but also to protest against divisive forces. We have ensure that the BJP is washed out of the state. If the people who walked with us today also vote for our candidate, the BJP will be rooted out of Asansol.”
In a direct message to voters, the Diamond Harbour MP added, “I am grateful for the way the people of Asansol have always stood up against separatist forces and divisive politics. The one you chose with hope (two-time Asansol MP Babul Supriyo, who joined the TMC last year and is the party’s candidate for the Ballygunge Assembly bypoll) could not work for you despite trying. The reason is that outsiders don’t know how to respect the people of Bengal. Having come to this realisation, Babul Supriyo resigned (as an MP) and joined the TMC.”
Lashing out at the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Banerjee, who also happens to be the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said, “This time, the BJP triggered defection in the Opposition ranks to cross 200 (win 200-plus seats in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections). However, what has it done since? Petrol and diesel prices are going up exponentially and so is the price of cooking gas. People across the country are keenly awaiting a chance to teach the BJP a lesson. You (people of Asansol) have an opportunity. So teach the BJP a lesson.”
Attending a similar roadshow earlier for Supriyo in Ballygunge, Banerjee had claimed many more BJP leaders want to join the TMC. “Many more leaders want to quit the BJP and join our party. If we open our doors to these leaders, the BJP will be finished,” the TMC MP had said.
Also accusing the saffron party of using central agencies such as the CBI and ED to harass Opposition leaders, he claimed that the BJP cannot contest elections in a democratic manner. He further alleged that the CPM and the Congress had sold themselves to the BJP in Bengal.
The TMC all-India general secretary also claimed that the former Asansol MP decided to shun the “Jai Shri Ram” politics of the BJP and embrace the “Jai Bangla politics” of the TMC.
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