 "Not easy for BJP to get requisite numbers: CM")
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee today said that it would not be easy for the BJP to get requisite numbers to form government at the Centre after the coming Lok Sabha elections, and asserted that the "arithmetic will get hazy as days pass". "I am seeing that even before the BJP has come to power, some people are chanting NaMo, NaMo. But it is not that easy. Where will they get the numbers?" Banerjee said during a party workers' meet here.
"As days will pass, the arithmetic will become hazy," Banerjee said in an obvious reference to the various opinion polls which are projecting a victory for the BJP-led NDA and BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. "They have miniscule presence in several states including Bengal," she said. "We will not allow divisive politics. For just one seat in the Hills, they are trying to divide the state," Banerjee said about BJP taking Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's support in the Darjeeling seat for its candidate. She claimed that only a Federal Front would be able to give a stable government to the nation and not the BJP or the Congress. "This time, it will be neither the BJP nor the Congress, but a Federal Front which will be able to give a stable government. We will emerge as the third largest party in the country after the elections," the Trinamool Congress supremo asserted.
She claimed that "while the Congress represents corruption, the BJP is a communal party and the CPI(M) plays destructive politics". "We have to fight against communalism," she said at the meeting. "The so-called Third Front is an opportunistic alliance and will bring only instability," she said. "We want parivartan (change) in Delhi. We want a people's government and not a typical political government which will increase gas, petrol prices and of other essentials after winning the elections," she said, referring to Congress. Banerjee said that the Trinamool Congress was not a rich party and with the Election Commission increasing the spending limit for a Lok Sabha election candidate to Rs 70 lakh, it was difficult for her party to fight in all seats in the country. "It is not possible for us to spend like the big and rich parties. Apart from the Rs 70 lakh per candidate, there are other expenditures like that of the party and on advertisements, etc," she said. She was confident that the TMC would become a national party after the elections. "We have presence in three states at present. After the elections, we will have representation in at least four states, thus entitling us to become a national party."
Referring to the over Rs two lakh crore debt burden left by the previous Left Front government, the Chief Minister said, "It is wrong to compare Bengal with states like Gujarat, Delhi or Karnataka. Show us one state from which Rs 74,000 crore has been deducted." Banerjee has been trying for a moratorium on debt servicing from the Centre since coming to power in 2011, but has failed to get any reprieve from the UPA II government of which she was an ally till September 2012.
"As days will pass, the arithmetic will become hazy," Banerjee said in an obvious reference to the various opinion polls which are projecting a victory for the BJP-led NDA and BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. "They have miniscule presence in several states including Bengal," she said. "We will not allow divisive politics. For just one seat in the Hills, they are trying to divide the state," Banerjee said about BJP taking Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's support in the Darjeeling seat for its candidate. She claimed that only a Federal Front would be able to give a stable government to the nation and not the BJP or the Congress. "This time, it will be neither the BJP nor the Congress, but a Federal Front which will be able to give a stable government. We will emerge as the third largest party in the country after the elections," the Trinamool Congress supremo asserted.
She claimed that "while the Congress represents corruption, the BJP is a communal party and the CPI(M) plays destructive politics". "We have to fight against communalism," she said at the meeting. "The so-called Third Front is an opportunistic alliance and will bring only instability," she said. "We want parivartan (change) in Delhi. We want a people's government and not a typical political government which will increase gas, petrol prices and of other essentials after winning the elections," she said, referring to Congress. Banerjee said that the Trinamool Congress was not a rich party and with the Election Commission increasing the spending limit for a Lok Sabha election candidate to Rs 70 lakh, it was difficult for her party to fight in all seats in the country. "It is not possible for us to spend like the big and rich parties. Apart from the Rs 70 lakh per candidate, there are other expenditures like that of the party and on advertisements, etc," she said. She was confident that the TMC would become a national party after the elections. "We have presence in three states at present. After the elections, we will have representation in at least four states, thus entitling us to become a national party."
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Claiming that the CPI(M), Congress and the BJP have come together to take on the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, Banerjee said, "It is a wonderful syndicate. We don't have to go for any such alliance. We are happy to go it alone." "We have the people's support. We have to defeat all three and win with the support of the people," she told the workers' meet.
Referring to the over Rs two lakh crore debt burden left by the previous Left Front government, the Chief Minister said, "It is wrong to compare Bengal with states like Gujarat, Delhi or Karnataka. Show us one state from which Rs 74,000 crore has been deducted." Banerjee has been trying for a moratorium on debt servicing from the Centre since coming to power in 2011, but has failed to get any reprieve from the UPA II government of which she was an ally till September 2012.