New Delhi [India]: West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Sukanta Majumdar on Tuesday said that Trinamool Congress (TMC) should officially declare that party’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is their Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Speaking about Banerjee’s visit to the national capital, Majumdar told ANI, “If Mamata Banerjee is the Chief Minister of West Bengal, it is natural that she will come to Delhi and meet our ministers including the Prime Minister. Every Chief Minister comes to Delhi to meet Central ministers for the development of the state. As far as it is concerned that if she is the face of the Opposition or not, the Trinamool Congress should first make an official declaration that Mamata Banerjee is their PM candidate. Firstly, we want TMC to declare this, and then let the Opposition decide whether they will accept Mamata Banerjee as the face of the Opposition or not. Our PM face is decided. It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” Banerjee, who arrived in Delhi on Monday (November 22), is slated to be in the national capital till November 25. She will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to discuss issues pertaining to the Border Security Force (BSF) and the development of the state during her visit to Delhi. Over Banerjee’s Delhi visit, Majumdar claimed that the TMC supremo is attempting to form a national party adding that “this is the reason why she is sending her people to different states,” he said. Hitting out at the ruling TMC in the state, Majumdar alleged that Mamata Banerjee became the Chief Minister in West Bengal for the third time by doing “politics over violence.” “She wants to take this violence to other parts of the whole country,” he said. Majumdar also attacked TMC on holding demonstrations in Delhi over alleged police brutality in Tripura and said that Mamata Banerjee is “dharna politics master.” “She had staged a dharna to save her corrupt police officers and ministers. She even went to the CBI office to stage a dharna. It was natural that she would use the gimmicks of what she is an expert at. That is why TMC MPs were outside the Union Home Minister’s house in Delhi,” said Majumdar. A delegation of TMC MPs on Monday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi over the alleged police brutality in Tripura. A total of 16 TMC MPs including Derek O’Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Santanu Sen and Mala Roy arrived at the party office in Delhi on Monday and held a protest outside the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over the Tripura police incident. Tensions in Tripura increased after violent incidents in the run-up to the elections to the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) and 12 other municipal bodies slated for November 25. TMC earlier alleged that several people sustained injuries after an attack on the residence of Trinamool Congress Tripura unit’s Steering Committee chief Subal Bhowmik in Bhagaban Thakur Chowmuni area of Agartala on Sunday. Talking about Banerjee’s visit to Delhi, BJP Bengal in-charge and IT cell head Amit Malviya said that if she wants to become the face of the Opposition, then TMC should formally announce it. “In the election, the public decides who will be suitable for the post of the Prime Minister. The Opposition keeps meeting among themselves, but they should announce who is their leader and what are their policies. On this basis, the public will decide whether you are right or not. But TMC is keeping silent in Delhi,” Malviya said. On the other hand, BJP leader Priyanka Tibrewal, who contested in the Bhawanipur by-polls in West Bengal, took a jibe at TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee and Mamata Banerjee and said, “Abhishek Banerjee is an alien. No one knows him in Tripura. TMC is doing all this just to come into the limelight and gain sympathy. TMC’s character is of blood-stained politics. They are now talking about violence. People in West Bengal have seen the violence of TMC. In Tripura, TMC is doing drama.” Meanwhile, Supreme Court on Tuesday declined the plea of TMC to postpone the Tripura local body elections scheduled on November 25 and directed the police to increase the security arrangements for conducting free and fair polls and the declaration of results. The Bench was hearing a contempt petition filed by All India Trinamool Congress and its Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev alleging non-compliance with the apex court order by Tripura authorities passed on November 11 to ensure a free and safe atmosphere for political campaigning for the local body elections scheduled on November 25. The Bench has now posted the matter for November 25 to ascertain compliance of the court’s order.
