New Delhi: The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday said Mamata Banerjee's government in West Bengal will not be in power after December, as reported by news agency PTI. Assembly elections in the state will be held in the year 2024 along with the Lok Sabha elections. Adhikari told reporters at Tamluk in East Midnapore district that preparations were being made to remove the Trinamool Congress government from the state.
"Wait for a few months, this government will cease to be in power in West Bengal. Mark my words, by December this year, TMC will not be in power in West Bengal. The assembly poll and parliamentary elections will be held simultaneously in 2024 in West Bengal," the BJP leader claimed.
Over the past few months, Adhikari has repeatedly claimed that the opposition-ruled states of Jharkhand, Rajasthan and West Bengal will have a Maharashtra-like situation. The Trinamool Congress reacted sharply to his comments.
"If he can foresee things, why couldn't he predict and stop the recent political happenings in Bihar? It seems that out of frustration in politics, he has started practising astrology," state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya of the TMC said.
"Any such attempts by the BJP to topple the state government in West Bengal would be given a befitting reply," she said.
Meanwhile, Actor-turned-politician and BJP leader from Bengal Mithun Chakraborty on Wednesday claimed that as many as 38 MLAs of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) have very good relations with the saffron-clad and 21 out of them are in direct contact. While speaking to reporters in Kolkata, Mithun said, "Do you want to hear breaking news? At this moment, 38 TMC MLAs have very good relations with us, out of which 21 are in direct contact with us."
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“At least 38 TMC MLAs are in touch with the BJP. Out of them, 21 are personally in touch with me. When I was in Mumbai, I read in newspapers one fine morning that the Shiv Sena and the BJP have formed the government in Maharashtra,” he said while addressing a press conference here.
Mithun said the BJP is in power in 18 states, and the party’s flag will fly high in a few other states very soon. "The BJP will not stop its fight in West Bengal. If free and fair polls are held in the state today, the party will form the next government," he said.
Reacting to his claims, TMC said the famed actor is "trying to fool the people by making false claims". "Such statements are an attempt to fool the masses. It has no relation with reality," TMC MP Santanu Sen said.
The TMC has 216 MLAs in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly. The opposition BJP has 75 legislators.