West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the TMC had the spine to take on the BJP and the saffron party would be ousted by the people in 2024. Launching a stinging attack on the ruling BJP at the TMC's Martyrs' Day rally, Mamata Banerjee alleged that the BJP was trying to break all state governments through "allies" like ED and CBI.
"We have the ability to fight. We have the spine to take on the BJP. They have the ED, CBI and other agencies as their allies. BJP will be swept away from power at Centre by people's mandate in 2024," the TMC supremo said as lakhs of party supporters gathered at the venue in Esplanade in the heart of Kolkata.
"I can certainly say that the BJP will not get single-party majority, and once that happens, others will unite to form the next government. Break BJP's prison, bring people's government in 2024," Mamata further said.
The TMC supremo also criticised the BJP for destroying institutions of the country, contending that those who had no role in the Independence struggle were now trying to rewrite the country's history.
"BJP is trying to break the govt everywhere, this has become their job. In West Bengal, they tried to defeat us but could not succeed," Mamata Banerjee further said.
The TMC supremo also said poverty and unemployment had gone down in Bengal unlike in the rest of the country.
Raking up the issue of hike in GST rates on essential commodities such as pre-packaged rice, wheat and milk, Banerjee said there was GST on the smallest of items nowadays. Holding puffed rice (muri) on her hand in the stage, the TMC chief said, "GST has been imposed on puffed rice as well. What are people supposed to eat? GST is levied on sweets, lassi, and curd. GST is even imposed when a patient is hospitalised."
"Look at where the rupee stands now. The BJP has destroyed the economy and social fabric of the country," Banerjee said.
She also raised the rate hike on LPG cylinders and fuel prices. "There is no need to have a government which increases prices of fuel and LPG cylinders," Mamata said.
Hiiting out at the Centre over the Agnipath recruitment scheme for the armed forces, Banerjee called it "an attempt to create a cadre for the BJP". "The Centre is depriving the armed forces in the name of 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme," she said.
The Agnipath scheme provides for the recruitment of youth between the age of 17-and-a-half and 21 years for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years. Protests had erupted in several states against the scheme.
Before beginning her address, Mamata quoted Rabindranath Tagore, saying, "We believe in Tagore's verse - Where the mind is without fear, where the head is held high."
The Shaheed Diwas (Martyrs' Day) rally was held after a gap of two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At least 4,500 police personnel were deployed across the city to maintain law and order.
This year's rally is also special as it is the first after the TMC's landslide victory in the 2021 Bengal election in which the party returned to power for the third consecutive term.
TMC observes Martyrs' Day on July 21 every year to commemorate the killing of 13 people in police firing on a Youth Congress rally in 1993 during the then Left Front government. Mamata Banerjee was then the Youth Congress state president.