Protracted poll to facilitate another "strike": Mamata

Banerjee had also said the lives of jawans were much more valuable than electoral politics, but the nation had a right to know what actually happened in Balakot following the IAF's strike.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called off her sit-in protest on Tuesday evening after the Supreme Court forbid the CBI from taking coercive action against Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar but vowed to wage a relentless battle against the Narendra Modi government till it was ousted from power. via Getty Images

Kolkata: In controversial remarks, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday appeared to suggest that the long-drawn Lok Sabha election process was intended to facilitate yet another "strike" as part of the BJP's "gameplan to disturb" her state. Banerjee, also the state's ruling Trinamool Congress chief, said the list of candidates of her party will be released on Tuesday. "I have been informed by some senior journalists that there will be another strike. What strike I will not say. In the name of so called... so called... so called... in the month of April. That is why it (voting process) will continue till May 19. "Please don't misquote me. I have great respect for a constitutional body like the Election Commission. But it is a part of the BJP's gameplan to disturb West Bengal," she told a press conference. With the TMC boss' comments being seen as an oblique reference to a likely military action by India, the BJP reacted quickly, dubbing her charge as "baseless". "She has the habit of levelling baseless accusations. She is given to kite-flying. If she has proof, she should make it public," state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh told PTI when reached for comments. Banerjee had accused the Centre of creating "war-like hysteria" in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack that left 40 CRPF personnel dead and the retaliatory air strike by the Indian Air Force on Jaish-e-Mohammad's terror training camp in Pakistan's Balakot. Banerjee had also said the lives of jawans were much more valuable than electoral politics, but the nation had a right to know what actually happened in Balakot following the IAF's strike. West Bengal will have polling in all seven phases, beginning April 11 and concluding on May 19. Banerjee exuded confidence that her party will win all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. She said though she had no problem with the protracted exercise, it would put poll personnel and voters in "distress" as they would have to face the summer heat. Several leaders of her party have also said the polling during the holy month of Ramzan will inconvenience Muslim voters who observe fast. "I know the people of my state. I have great respect for the people of Bengal. But the BJP is showing disrespect to them. They (the BJP) have conspired against me and Bengal, but it will boomerang on them," Banerjee said. Replying to a question, Banerjee said 7-phase polls have been announced only in Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, which are expected to play a key role in deciding who will form the next government at Centre. Soon after the Election Commission announced the polling schedule on Sunday, the TMC had alleged the central government had "misled" the poll body about the law and order situation in the state.