West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Kolkata Rally on Sunday declared that her party Trinamool Congress will be contesting alone from Bengal along with Assam and Meghalaya for the Lok Sabha elections. Banerjee also said that her party is in talks with Akhilesh Yadav for contesting in one LS seat in Uttar Pradesh.
The TMC boss iterated that her party, which is a partner of the opposition bloc INDIA, will contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal alone.
“We will contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal alone and will fight against the Congress, BJP and the CPI(M). We will also contest elections in Assam and Meghalaya. We are in talks with Akhilesh Yadav (of SP) for contesting one Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh,” she said while addressing the 'Jana Garjan Sabha'.
Banerjee also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party and PM Narendra Modi for making allegations that central funds are being siphoned off in West Bengal. She said, "The PM must cross-check facts with officials before making baseless allegations."
“He is only inaugurating projects in Bengal but not releasing funds for the state. This is his guarantee. He has made all false promises,” she added.
A day after Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned from the post, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday lauded him for "not succumbing" to the BJP’s pressure, and asserted that the saffron camp would be defeated in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
During her speech at a massive gathering organized by the TMC at Brigade Parade Grounds, Banerjee stated that Goel's unexpected resignation is evidence of the BJP's intention to manipulate votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“I salute Arun Goel for not succumbing to pressure by Delhi leaders (of BJP) and his top bosses in connection with the West Bengal LS polls and the deployment of forces. It is proven that what they (the BJP-led NDA government.) want to do in the name of election. They want to loot votes,” she said.
TMC candidates for LS polls
The Trinamool Congress on Sunday announced its candidate list for the 42 Lok Sabha seats and launched its poll campaign from the grand rally at Kolkata's famed Brigade Parade Grounds.
They dropped at least eight sitting MPs and bringing in several new faces such as former cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Kriti Azad.
The party renominated 16 sitting MPs and fielded 12 women.
Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, whereas Kirti Aazd will fight from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.
From the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, where Sandeshkhali is situated, TMC pitted its former MP Haji Nurul Islam by dropping sitting MP Nusrat Jahan.
The TMC also renominated expelled Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar seat for the second consecutive term.
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