West Bengal polls: Mamata Banerjee demoralised as BJP way ahead of TMC after five phases, claims Amit Shah

Purbasthali/Swarupnagar: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the BJP will bag more than 122 of the 180 seats that went to elections in West Bengal in five phases. Shah, who addressed two rallies during the day, claimed that chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee will have to surely make an exit after losing the Nandigram seat to the BJP. “Didi is demoralised after five phases of elections as it has been established that the BJP, with more than 122 seats, is much ahead of her. Take it from me, Suvendu Adhikari (BJP nominee) is winning the polls from Nandigram,” he said at a public meeting in Purbasthali. The home minister also said that the TMC boss has just one agenda: “abusing him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central armed police force (CAPF)”. He further stated that people should bid Banerjee farewell after ensuring a huge defeat for her party one that “befits her stature”. He hoped that the chief minister’s injured leg gets healed soon so that “she is able to walk when she submits her resignation to the governor after 2 May.” Pointing to a purported audio tape, in which the TMC boss is apparently heard proposing a rally with the bodies of Cooch Behar firing victims, Shah said he has so far never come across any person who “plays politics over the dead”. Insisting that ‘infiltrators’ are taking away the benefits meant for the country’s citizens, he said, “People like you and I are second-grade citizens for Didi as we do not add heft to her vote bank.” He gave assurance that his party, if voted to power in West Bengal, will ensure that cross-border cattle smuggling comes to a stop once and for all. Claiming that TMC’s ‘goons’ try to forbid voters from exercising franchise on every polling day, he said Banerjee is angry because people, this time, have come out in large numbers to cast ballots without any fear or anxiety. Shah, during his address in Swarupnagar, alleged that illegal immigrants are very close to the heart of Mamata Banerjee as they make for a chunk of her vote base. “Didi, however, does not want the new citizenship law to be implemented. I promise you (people) that all refugees will be given citizenship after the BJP forms government. “Having toured every part of West Bengal, I know that Didi’s departure is certain,” he said, exuding confidence that the saffron party will win the Assembly elections with over 200 seats in its kitty. Slamming the chief minister over her contention that BJP leaders are “outsiders”, Shah sought to know from the people gathered at the rally if he and the prime minister can actually be termed so. Iterating that Banerjee has refused to extend benefits of ‘‘Ayushman Bharat’’ health scheme to the people of Bengal “on the pretext that she does not want Narendra Modi’s money”, Shah said, “The money is from the Central government exchequer and not from him. Modi, being the son of a tea-seller, does not have so much money.” He assured that a BJP government in Bengal will ensure that at least one member of every family in the state gets work in the next five years. The home minister, in an apparent bid to woo the Matua sect, said the BJP, after forming government in Bengal, will approve the renaming of Thakurnagar railway station to ‘‘Sridham Thakurnagar’’ in the very first cabinet meeting. Matuas, comprising a sizeable percentage of the electorate in North 24 Parganas and Nadia, have migrated to India from erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.