Kolkata: The BJP on Sunday said the collapse of the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal was just a matter of time as "it had outlived its utility".
Speaking at a party programme in his Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency in North 24 Parganas district, BJP MP Shantanu Thakur said the TMC government will not last beyond five months. "I have a hunch that this government will not last beyond five months," he said. "The Mamata Banerjee government has outlived its utility. Had the TMC not resorted to widespread rigging in the recently concluded panchayat polls, the BJP would have bagged thousands of more seats.
"But this is going to be the last election under the supervision of the TMC government where all the state machinery including the State Election Commission (SEC) have failed to play a neutral and impartial role," Thakur, who is also the Union Minister of State for Shipping, said. Police sources said 39 people have died in panchayat poll-related violence since the election date was announced on June 8. A majority of those who lost their lives were affiliated with the TMC.
Talking to reporters after attending an organisational meeting to take stock of the party's panchayat poll performance, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said, "Anything can happen any time. Let's see what happens." He added, "Who knows if there's a people's uprising against TMC's misrule and terror. Who knows if TMC MLAs suddenly refuse to follow Mamata Banerjee's way of functioning. I am not saying it will happen, it may not. But anything is possible in politics."
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About his meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on July 14, Majumdar said, "The Centre will do everything possible to protect the lives of innocent people in West Bengal." Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had earlier demanded imposition of Article 355 in West Bengal saying central intervention has become imperative in the state which had witnessed violence during panchayat polls.
He said, "Though a democratically elected government cannot be toppled if it fails to perform its duty as envisaged in the Constitution, the Centre has to intervene to save it from slipping into lawlessness." Reacting to the comments of BJP leaders, TMC Rajya Sabha MP and party spokesperson Santanu Sen said, "All these BJP leaders, including Adhikari, are desperate to raise their ratings in Delhi by issuing threats to a government which came to power for the third time through a huge mandate two years ago and enjoys mass support."
He added, "If out of desperation the BJP tries any misadventure" after the drubbing in panchayat polls, the people of the state will thwart it. Sen said BJP leaders like Adhikari and Ghosh had made similar predictions about the collapse of the TMC government in December and January and "even spelt out specific dates," but nothing happened.
TMC state general secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said BJP leaders are making such claims "to boost the morale of their rank and file," who had been demoralised after the panchayat poll results. "They (BJP leaders) are themselves aware of the absurdity of their claims," he added. (Agency inputs)
