Trinamool Congress is not after chair: Mamata Banerjee

By saying that her party was not after a chair but only wanted to oust the BJP from power, Mamata Banerjee wanted to clarify that the Prime Minister’s post will not be a reason for the division of opposition unity.

Kolkata:In the midst of extensive criticism from BJP regarding the leader representing the opposition, Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal and a prominent figure in the opposition unity, emphatically stated that the Trinamool Congress' objective is not to pursue power for its own sake, but rather to oust the BJP from their position of authority.

Speaking at the TMC's Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata, the Trinamool Congress supremo said, “We don’t want a chair. We are not after power. We want BJP to be out of power. They can’t be tolerated any more. It is time for them to go”.

The chief minister spoke extensively on the new alliance INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) that has been formed in the recently concluded opposition meet in Bengaluru. Mamata said, “We have been successful in creating an inclusive coalition named INDIA. We will fight against BJP and it is time for them to go”.

“India will fight. Trinamool will hold the flag and fight like a soldier. India must win. BJP will lose. India will win. Modi will lose. Apart from this we have no slogan,” Mamata gave her parting message to the alliance.

The chief minister’s statement comes a few days after BJP leader Amit Malviya questioned the leadership of the opposition. The party even went on to say that there are so many aspirants for the Prime Minister’s post that the opposition will have to make seven prime ministers for seven days.

Political experts are of the opinion that after Congress made an announcement that they are not in the Prime Minister’s race, Trinamool Congress also wanted to make it clear that the Prime Minister’s post will not be a reason for the division of opposition unity.

Sources in the party indicated that the chief minister was so cautious that she had asked all the party workers and the leaders who were present on the stage not to raise any slogan or project her as the next prime minister. Interestingly enough in a crowd of more than one lakh there was not a single slogan projecting her as the next prime minister.