Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday described the outcome of assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as “people's verdict” against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Banerjee, who is on a tour to New Delhi, did not specifically acknowledge the better performance of the Congress in the three BJP-ruled States, but congratulated the “winners”. She also took into account the poll-results in Mizoram and Telangana to note that the BJP was suffering setbacks in all the five States, which went to the elections.
“People voted against BJP. This is the people’s verdict and victory of the people of this country,” Banerjee posted on Twitter.
“Victory of democracy and victory against injustice, atrocities, destruction of institutions, misuse of agencies, no work for poor people, farmers, youth, Dalits, SC (Scheduled Castes), ST (Scheduled Tribes), OBC (Other Backward Communities), minorities and general caste,” she added in another tweet.
The Trinamool Congress chief on Monday attended a meeting of the leaders of the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and the other opposition parties to chalk out a joint strategy to collectively take on the ruling BJP in the forthcoming parliamentary elections in 2019.
She suggested in the meeting that the opposition parties should work out a Common Minimum Programme and collectively present themselves together as an alternative to the BJP across the country.
The Trinamool Congress is understood to have reservation against projecting Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the leader of the coalition the opposition parties are trying to cobble together to take on BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 polls.
“Semifinal proves that BJP is nowhere in all the states. This is a real democratic indication of 2019 final match. Ultimately, people are always the ‘man of the match’ of democracy. My congrats to the winners,” Banerjee tweeted after the initial results indicated a resurgence of the Congress in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and victory for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti in Telangana and opposition Mizo National Front in Mizoram.
She invited the leaders of all the opposition parties to take part in a rally her party is set to hold in Kolkata on January 19 to start the campaign against the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.