BJP has majority inside Lok Sabha, not among people: Mamata Banerjee

Sounding almost a bugle for the 2019 general elections, she said the BJP will lose next year as the situation is not in its favour anymore like in 2014.

Waging a full-fledged attack against the BJP at her party Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s 25th Martyrs' Day rally in the city, Mamata said: "The BJP has numbers inside the Lok Sabha but not among people. The number which it has got yesterday was because of a host of factors like the AIADMK supporting them since Jayalalithaa is no longer there. The 2014 General Elections number will not hold anymore, even their ally Shiv Sena did not vote for them" the TMC supremo said while referring to the BJP's win in the no-trust motion by getting the support of 325 Lok Sabha MPs.

The motion, which was brought by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's Telegu Desam Party (TDP), backed by the Congress, the TMC and several other parties, got only 126 favourable votes.

However, Mamata feels the golden days of the BJP have started to end as even its ally partner Shiv Sena didn't favour them in the no-confidence motion.

Raising the issue of lynchings in the name of cow protection, which was condemned by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the CM hit out at the BJP saying, "People are being lynched everywhere, the country is getting ruined. In Uttar Pradesh, several people are getting killed in the name of encounter.".

She didn't forget to refer to the latest incident where a man has been lynched in Rajasthan's Alwar on suspicion over cow smuggling.

Referring to her blueprint to succeed in the 2019 General Election, Mamata feels the combination of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP) will stop the Modi juggernaut that swept the northern state four years ago.

Mamata believes the BJP will tumble in other states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Punjab in the next Lok Sabha elections.

Trashing the claims of BJP president Amit Shah that the saffron party will get 22 seats in the next Lok Sabha polls from Bengal, Mamata said her party will win all 42 of them.

In close to one-hour speech amid the massive gathering in central Kolkata at downtown Esplanade, Mamata, significantly, spared just few minutes for the Congress and the CPI-M, which was once the TMC chief's arch rival.

Alleging that the Congress and the CPI-M are playing double games by mingling with the BJP in West Bengal and seeking the TMC's support to counter the saffron party in New Delhi, the CM said: "They have different ideologies in West Bengal and in New Delhi."

"I am urging the Congress to decide with whom it wants to go. It is fighting against the BJP but aligning with the saffron party in the state."

The Martyrs' Day is a remembrance of July 21, 1993 incident, when police had opened fire at a Congress rally, which was led by Mamata Banerjee, killing 13 people.

The rally was led by Mamata, then Congress Youth President, against then Left Front-led West Bengal government, demanding photo identity card be made mandatory to ensure fair elections.

(Images by Avishek Mitra/IBNS)