BJP’s vote has come from the Left parties says Mamta Banerjee
KOLKATA: Following the saffron surge in West Bengal during the Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has called a meeting of her party leaders from across districts in Bengal.
All TMC candidates have been asked to be present at her Kalighat residence in the afternoon today. District observers of the party have also been summoned. The BJP won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, up from two in 2014. Trinamool won 22 seats, down from 34 in 2014. The Congress bagged two seats, down from four last time, and won a vote share of 5.61%.
Mamata Banerjee, addressing her first press conference after her party’s national election setback in Bengal, said she did not want to continue as Chief Minister and had told her Trinamool Congress that.
“I have told my party, for six months I have been unable to work. I was a powerless Chief Minister. I cannot accept that. I don’t want to continue as Chief Minister. The chair is nothing for me. Party symbol is most important for me,” Mamata Banerjee told reporters.
The BJP scored a remarkable tally in West Bengal, a long-term Left stronghold turned Trinamool territory. It won 18 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats, in a massive improvement over its 2014 tally of two seats. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool won only a few more, 22.Mamata Banerjee questioned the fairness of the election.
“I can only continue if people are willing to take a bold step. We need to increase our vote share. BJP’s vote has come from the Left. This is mathematics,” said the Chief Minister. The BJP has won 303 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha and along with its allies, it has 352.
(With Bureau Report).
