Mamata: BJP campaigning not to win, but to split votes
On a day when senior BJP leader L.K. Advani and BJP president Nitin Gadkari were touring the state seeking votes for their party candidates, Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee intensified attack against the saffron party. Apparently apprehending that the BJP would divide the anti-Left vote, Ms Banerjee called upon the people to
not give a single vote to the BJP. During her hurricane tour of North Bengal, she had repeatedly attacked the BJP and alleged that it had entered into a clandestine agreement with the ruling CPI(M) to stop the Congress-Trinamul Congress combine from coming to power. Her stridency in North Bengal made sense because there were BJP some pockets in districts like Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Malda districts.
However, the BJP did not have much of a presence in South Bengal and still the Trinamul Congress chief was targeting the party. Political observers pointed out that now that she believed that she was on the threshold of power, Ms Banerjee wanted to eliminate every stumbling block from her path. “Why is Mr Advani campaigning in Myureshwar and Nakashipara. His party is obviously not going to win. It will merely split the vote and pave the way for CPI(M)’s victory,” she said.
Ms Banerjee claimed that the BJP had deliberately fielded candidates in all the marginal seats. “There are many seats where the margin of victory is between 5,000 to 10,000 votes. Here, if the BJP secures some votes, the CPI(M)’s job will be made easier,” she said, adding that the people should ensure that all BJP candidates lost their deposits.
The Trinamul Congress chief even accused the BJP of playing the communal card. “The BJP which practices the politics of religion wants to divide Muslims and Hindus,” she added. Ms Banerjee said that even when the Trinamul Congress was a part of the NDA, she never supported BJP’s Hindutva line. “I respect Advaniji because of his age but I donot respect him as a leader. I never condoned the demolition of Babri Masjid,” she added.
She continued her BJP-bashing even in a rally at Burrabazar area which has considerable BJP supporters. Seeking vote for her Jorasanko candidate Smita Bakshi, Ms Banerjee did some plainspeaking. “The Trinamul Congress-Congress combine will win everywhere then why not in Burrabazar? In Kolkata Municipal Corporation election, you elected three BJP councillors but in vain?” she said.
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