Mamata kicks off election campaign with virtual rally

nKOLKATA: Gujarat cannot rule all states in the country and Trinamool Congress (TMC) will return to power through a historic victory in the 2021 Bengal assembly polls, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said at a virtual rally on Tuesday. Flagging off her election campaign a year before the polls, Banerjee focused her attack solely on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Centre.

Banerjee did not name Prime Minister Narendra Modi or home minister Amit Shah, but referred to Gujarat, their home state, instead. Calling the BJP “outsiders,” she talked of Bengal’s heritage and pride.

Banerjee was addressing the TMC’S biggest annual show — a public rally in Kolkata in memory of the 13 youth Congress workers killed in police firing in Kolkata on July 21, 1993. In view of the pandemic, giant screens were installed in public places and TMC offices across the state.

Banerjee accused BJP of using money to win state elections and overthrow opposition governments in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. She accused the Centre of introducing “kaala kanoon” (dark laws) and destroying the economy and democracy.

The chief minister made an array of promises such as free ration, medical treatment and free education to the underprivileged. She said that Bengal has surpassed other states in many fields, including poverty alleviation.

The BJP dismissed Banerjee’s claims, while the Congress and the CPI(M) also attacked her.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, “In 2019, her party dreamt of seeing her as prime minister, but we won 18 seats. This is her last martyr’s day speech as chief minister. In 2021, we will give permission for the rally but it will be reduced to a street corner meeting.”

Md Salim, CPI(M) politburo member and former Lok Sabha member, said, “Banerjee is making tall promises while her government has failed to control the pandemic, stop looting of ration and generate employment.”

million people under lockdown