NDTV Online

The Bengal election results have proved that the BJP can be defeated and people have shown the way, Mamata Banerjee said yesterday on her remarkable victory.

“They need political oxygen,” she quipped in an exclusive interview to NDTV.

Defying most projections, Mamata Banerjee won 213 seats (total 292) in Bengal, limiting the BJP to double digits (77).

“The BJP can be defeated. At the end of the day it is a democracy and it is the people’s choice that matters. People have shown the way. In a democracy you should not show audacity or ego. I will request the Election Commission to follow rajdharma and back not only the BJP but all parties,” she told NDTV, bringing up her party’s allegations about the poll body’s bias and discrimination.

“The BJP is a communal party, they are trouble-mongers, they are creating fake videos, they are misusing their powers, they misuse agencies; they want to demolish federalism, bulldoze the federal character of the country.”

People must come together to fight the BJP, she said.

“This kind of agency politics (using CBI, Enforcement Directorate) should come to an end and that will be the end of the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah era of politics. Even the old BJP members reject the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah style of politics. The country cannot face this kind of politics anymore. There are many better candidates than Modi and Amit Shah.”

But the firebrand politician, set for her third term as Bengal Chief Minister, was cautious on the possibility of emerging as the opposition’s candidate to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024.

“Sometimes you cannot decide all the things right now. It is different during election time. There has to be a common minimum programme...Now is the time to fight the Covid battle. After the Covid battle is over, we will decide, we will set up an expert team also so that they can guide us. Automatically it will come up. Because the country cannot face this disaster. This BJP means disaster.”