Former TMC leader and now BJP’s Rajya Sabha candidate Sushmita Dev said that TMC should introspect on its mistakes. He questioned the party’s absence in the Falta by-election and said that the revival of the party cannot happen without introspection.
Kolkata (West Bengal) [भारत]July 10 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha by-election candidate and former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sushmita Dev on Friday said the opposition party in Bengal will not be able to revive itself unless it introspects and accepts its mistakes.
Speaking to ANI, Dev said that TMC should give an explanation for not actively campaigning in the Phalata by-election, while it itself has been demanding that elected representatives who switched parties should resign and take a fresh mandate.
TMC targeted over Falta by-election
Dev said, “In the past, Phalta had given a lot of votes to Trinamool. Today, there is a fight between the two parties over the party’s election symbol ‘flowers and grass’. The TMC candidate who called himself ‘Pushpa’ ran away, but the party’s election symbol was on the EVM. Congress, CPM and Suvendu – all went to Phalta. But there was one party whose leader did not go to Phalta. They will have to answer for this.”
He also questioned the absence of senior party leaders during the Falta Assembly by-election campaign and asked TMC why it did not go to Falta for the by-election. “You are asking Lok Sabha MPs to resign and face the by-elections, but TMC has to answer why it did not go for the Phalta by-elections? If there are by-elections on 20 seats tomorrow, will any TMC leader go to those constituencies? I believe that unless you (TMC) understand your mistakes, you cannot revive this party.”
These by-elections will be held on July 24 and counting of votes will take place on the same day. These seats fell vacant after the resignation of three former TMC leaders last month. Three prominent former TMC Rajya Sabha MPs, Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Badaik had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These leaders were formally inducted at the BJP state headquarters in the presence of West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya and other senior party officials. Within hours of joining the party, the BJP has fielded him for the upcoming Rajya Sabha by-elections in West Bengal.
Defense of decision to join BJP
Defending his decision to join the BJP and contest the Rajya Sabha bypoll as a party candidate, Dev said he had followed the same principles advocated by the TMC itself earlier. He said, “TMC had said that if you take a principled decision, you should resign and be re-elected. And that is exactly what happened. You were saying one thing 15 days ago and today you are saying something else. I do not need a certificate from anyone.”
TMC’s election narrative backfired
Responding to TMC MP Saugata Roy’s comments, Dev alleged that the party’s own campaign narrative during the elections had weakened public confidence in its ability to govern. “During the elections in Bengal, TMC said that development is not happening in the state because the state does not get money from the central government. This message went to the public that development cannot happen in West Bengal under the leadership of TMC. People felt that if they have to fence the border, bring industries, then TMC cannot do it. TMC’s message backfired on them.”
‘Mamata is the only mass leader in TMC’
Commenting on the split in the Trinamool Congress, Dev said that former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remains the only mass leader of the party. “The question is, among the leaders who are with Didi today, who is the mass leader? Everyone agrees, and history is witness to the fact that Didi is a mass leader. But the leaders who are now with Didi, what is their hold on the public? These leaders themselves say that they are like rubber stamps and people vote for Didi. Are these people mass leaders? The problem lies here.”
Drawing comparisons with the BJP’s growth in West Bengal, Dev said leaders like Suvendu Adhikari and Samik Bhattacharya have built support at the grassroots level. “The way the BJP has emerged in Bengal, Suvendu da and Samik da are grassroots leaders. It does not matter which party loses the elections. The BJP has lost many elections after independence. What matters is which party has acceptance at the grassroots level,” he further said. (ANI)
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