West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee interacts with the media after a meeting with newly elected MPs of the party at her Kalighat residence, in Kolkata.
Credit: PTI Photo
The Bharatiya Janata Party is forming the government “undemocratically and illegally”, the Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday – a day before Narendra Modi, the leader of the coalition led by the saffron party, is scheduled to be sworn in as the prime minister for his third consecutive term.
Banerjee, who had a meeting with the newly elected TMC members of the Lok Sabha, told journalists that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc could stake a claim to form the government at the centre in the future. She said her party would adopt a ‘wait and watch’ approach for the time being, but she would be pleased when the ‘weak and unstable’ government of the National Democratic Alliance, led by the BJP, would be ousted from power.
The TMC won 29 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal and the BJP got 12. The Congress got one seat from the state.
The TMC supremo said that the TMC MPs in both Houses of Parliament would demand scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). They would also oppose any attempt to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in other states as it was done in Assam.
The TMC MPs will ask for the release of funds earmarked for development and welfare programmes in West Bengal but blocked by the BJP-led government at the Centre.
“The BJP is forming the government undemocratically and illegally. Today, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc may not have staked a claim to form the government, but that doesn't mean they won't tomorrow. Let’s wait for some time,” said the TMC supremo.
Ultimately, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will form the government in the coming days, added Banerjee. “But let’s see how they run the (BJP) government till then.”
The I.N.D.I.A. bloc on Wednesday had a meeting in New Delhi. The leaders of the bloc said it would take "appropriate steps at the appropriate time" to realize the people's desire not to be ruled by the BJP government.
"The NDA government to be formed will be unstable. The BJP has not secured a majority; they are dependent on allies. Let’s see how long they can get along with their allies," Banerjee said, adding that Modi should have stepped down this time and allowed someone else to take over as the mandate was for change.
She said that neither she nor anyone else from her party would attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony on Sunday. She said that the TMC had not yet received any invitation.
The meeting of the TMC MPs saw Sagarika Ghose being appointed as the deputy leader of the party, with Derek O’Brien being asked to continue as the leader. Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, another TMC MP, was appointed deputy leader of the Lok Sabha, with Sudip Bandopadhyay continuing as the leader.
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