‘BJP will lose four of the five states that have gone to polls’

With two more phases remaining of the West Bengal polls, Trinamool Congress MP and national spokesperson MAHUA MOITRA, in an interview with Kavita Chowdhury, lashes out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP government, asserting that these polls are not just an Assembly election but a referendum on the idea of the soul of India. Edited excerpts:

We are in the last phase of the Bengal polls. How is the Trinamool Congress countering PM Modi’s narratives? Midway through the Bengal polls, Modi declared vaccines for all above 18 years, which has been seen as a masterstroke.

First of all, we (Trinamool Congress) have been in power for 10 years and we are going into the polls based on the work we have done and what we intend to do in the next five years. So we are the ones, setting the narrative; it’s not them. As for the vaccination, let’s understand what do people want at the end of the day. At the very basic, they want food to eat and health care. So when fuel and LPG prices have hit the roof, it has hit people in the stomach, so the central government has failed spectacularly at that. Second, in normal times, health care is a state subject but in times of a pandemic, everything stems from the Centre. Let me tell you, when the vaccination programme first started, Mamata Banerjee wrote to the Centre way back on February 24, stating that the state government wants to buy vaccines directly. She wrote three letters, but there was no reply. And now Modi says states can directly buy vaccines! Also, amid the elections, Modi says vaccines for everyone above 18 years, but everyone knows there just aren’t enough vaccines. The great vaccine panacea will not work here when you cannot get your hands on a vaccine. Every person understands this, especially in Bengal.

As someone who is a sitting MP and has consistently been campaigning in the field in this election for TMC candidates, has there been a discernible change in voters’ attitude?

See, two things worked for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls (2019). We were kind of blindsided; the BJP used enormous amounts of money and social media/fake propaganda very effectively. Moreover, that being a parliamentary election, they had a prime ministerial face, it was Modi centric. There was no one on the other side, so that worked for the BJP in 2019. But now this is working against them in Bengal. There is no chief ministerial face of the BJP. Is it Dilip Ghosh, is it Suvendu Adhikar? Nobody knows. And here Mamata Banerjee is a sitting chief minister; she is everywhere.

This is a protracted election over eight phases…

It’s not just sad for Bengal, it’s a low for parliamentary democracy in India. We have had institutions that were considered sacred and sacrosanct, the Election Commission (EC), the judiciary, the media; and now we have seen them fall. Even when the second wave hit, we went to the EC and told it to club the remaining three phases and it said “No”. This is ridiculous! Like I’ve said, the double mutant (of the virus) should be called the “Modi mutant” and the triple mutant should be called the “ECI mutant” in honour of those responsible! After all, we are dealing with a megalomaniac Modi.

Mamata Banerjee has alleged the Election Commission is biased towards the BJP. So how does the TMC intend to counter such biases on counting day? Remember the RJD lost out to the BJP in Bihar amid allegations of EVM recounting.

There is nothing we can do. There is no recourse. The Election Commission doesn’t listen, the Supreme Court doesn’t listen, who do you go to. But believe me, we will win the elections despite this -despite the media, the judiciary, the EC all lined up against us, we will show to the rest of India that it is possible.

I have observed that even though the voter is predisposed to Mamata Banerjee for her clean corruption-free image, a large section of the electorate is fed up with the extortion tactics of the TMC cadre. Shouldn’t the CM have done more to control her unruly party men? That is something that has continued to haunt us and Mamata Banerjee has tried to clean it up. A party when it grows big, I guess when even 10 per cent of the party do this, 90 per cent of the party gets a bad name. Unfortunately, that what’s happened. But the boss is trying to control it.

In the midst of the polls, Banerjee sprung a surprise by writing to opposition leaders to unite and fight against Modi’s Hindutva politics and the BJP. Isn’t it too little, too late?

Because of the nature of India, there is no common ground that binds regional parties together. The only way to them together is by telling them that BJP is a common scourge and must be defeated. Banerjee is confident of victory, of forming the government and is, therefore, urging the Congress, the NCP, the DMK, the TRS, etc. that we all need to rally together and work in the next three years (in the runup to the 2024 elections). Mark my words, of the five states going to polls now, the BJP will lose four.

In your view, are the Bengal polls a referendum …

It will be a referendum on Mamata Banerjee. More importantly, it will be a referendum on the rejection/acceptance of the destruction of the soul of India!