Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mukul Roy on Sunday took a dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying her offer to resign was aimed to stay in the news. The BJP leader, who was once the Trinamool Congress chief’s second-in-command, said Banerjee rejected the resignation letter after submitting it to herself.
“We want to know whom Mamata Banerjee gave her resignation to and who are the people to accept it,” The Indian Express quoted Roy as saying. “She gave her resignation to herself…and she did not accept it. This is very funny. She will not be ready to resign until she is thrown out by the people.”
On Saturday, Banerjee said she had offered to step down as the chief minister but her party rejected it. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Trinamool Congress won 22 out of 42 seats in West Bengal, while the BJP raised its tally from two seats in 2014 to 18. The Congress won only two seats.
Roy accused Banerjee of practising appeasement politics. “We have no problem with it,” he said. “But at the same time when she compared those people with cows, it is not fair in a democracy.”
Roy said the ruling party was born only to oppose the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and has no philosophy. “Only history books will mention that there was a party called the TMC,” the BJP leader claimed. “The process of the TMC going into extinction has already started.”
He also confirmed that his son Subhrangshu Roy would join the saffron party. “It is just a matter of time for him to come over,” he added. Subhrangshu Roy was suspended from the Trinamool Congress for making anti-party statements.
There was foreign hand behind BJP’s win, alleges CM
On Saturday, Mamata Banerjee addressed her first press conference since the Lok Sabha election results. She alleged there was foreign hand behind the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s landslide victory. The BJP alone secured 303 of 542 Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress won 52 seats.
“There is the hand of foreign nations also,” she claimed.” I don’t want to say more in the interest of the nation. I am prepared to be completely isolated. But as long as I live, I will utter the unpleasant truths.”
Banerjee also alleged that Electronic Voting Machines were tampered with during the elections. She asked how the Opposition could fail to win seats in several states. “I have doubts of EVM manipulation, especially seats where we have lost with less than one lakh vote margin,” she added.
The Trinamool Congres leader also accused the saffron party of polarising the voters in the state and creating an Emergency-like situation to win the elections. She accused the Centre of removing police officials at the airport to ensure that money came into the state without any obstruction. “The central forces worked against us...There was an effort to create a Hindu-Muslim division,” she added. “We complained to the Election Commission but nothing was looked into.”
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!