Dilip Ghosh downplays TMC's foray into national politics; cites BJP's stupendous 2019 win

A day after TMC declared its plan to enter national politics, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh affirmed that the Mamata Banerjee-led party will not succeed. According to him, TMC's earlier attempts to form a national front had failed in the 2019 General Election as BJP was re-elected with an even bigger majority. Moreover, he highlighted that the ruling party in WB had no footprint in any of the states as well. Taking a swipe at TMC, the Medinipur MP claimed that it was seeking the support of other parties to salvage its own political fortunes. 

On Tuesday, WB BJP chief Dilip Ghosh remarked, "In 2014, she tried to unite other leaders. In 2016 too (she tried). In 2019, she called the leaders of all other parties to Kolkata, fed them fish rice, conducted a big rally and gave the slogan 'Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao'. After that, Modi's support increased from 282 to 303 seats. The same thing will happen now. How will the people who don't have a base themselves take the country forward?" 

"It tried in many states including Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand. TMC has no presence in any of these states. Mamata Banerjee feels that her party's fate will be similar to other parties which are being wiped out from the political scene. TMC is inviting everyone to save its own existence," he added. 

TMC's national foray

After a hard-fought election campaign, TMC sprung a surprise by decisively winning the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election by bagging 213 seats whereas BJP could win in only 77 constituencies. While the JP Nadda-led party won 74 more seats than the previous election, its vote share of 38.13% could not pose a challenge to TMC which garnered a vote share of 47.94%. Buoyed by its third consecutive victory, TMC is mulling projecting Mamata Banerjee as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Speaking to the media on Monday, TMC leader Madan Mitra revealed that Banerjee's Martyrs' Day rally speech on July 21 will be telecasted on giant screens in Tripura, Assam, Odisha, Bihar, Punjab, UP, and Delhi. Moreover, opposition leaders will be invited to the event which is held in remembrance of the 13 people who were killed in police firing in a rally of Youth Congress in Kolkata in 1993. He said, "We have won Bengal again and the people outside the state have seen that Mamata is the only competitor against the BJP".