New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday launched a vigorous attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying, "I believe that BJP will not come in 2024 (to power). Unemployment in India is increasing by 40% but it decreased by 45% in Bengal... Today media trial is going on & they are calling people accused. They just want to create a bad impression of Bengal."
Mamata's latest attack comes days after her cabinet colleague and senior TMC leader Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a school recruitment scam.
"They (BJP) have no work, their job is to take over the state governments through 3-4 agencies. They've taken Maharashtra, now Jharkhand but Bengal has defeated them. It's not easy to break Bengal as you have to fight the Royal Bengal Tiger first," CM said.
Addressing a programme of Titagarh Wagons, Mamata also slammed the media for launching a "malicious campaign" against her party.
"When you run a big institution, there can be mistakes. If anyone has committed any mistake, and it is proven legally, he or she must be punished. But I am against any malicious media campaign. Media is playing the role of kangaroo (court). A senior judge also said that recently," she said.
Mamata also claimed along with opposition leaders, businessmen were being “threatened by agencies at the behest of the ruling BJP” at the Centre.
"I don't have a problem if agencies function impartially. These should not be used to malign parties," she said.
“These days, if you protest against something, you get suspended,” said Mamata in reference to the suspension of 19 opposition members from Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Among the suspended MPs, seven belong to the TMC and six to the DMK.
Stating that the saffron party will lose elections in 2024, she said, "I can talk about the numbers and where they will be coming from… I am, however, confident that the BJP won't come to power."
(With PTI inputs)