KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress supremo and outgoing Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, feared that the BJP may indulge in horse-trading if the ruling party does not achieve a two-thirds majority in the Assembly elections.
The second phase polls in 142 assembly constituencies in the state will be held on April 29. Earlier on April 23, polls in 152 seats in 16 districts were held with a record of around 93 per cent polling.
While addressing an election rally in her home turf, Bhabanipur in south Kolkata, on Saturday night, the Trinamool Congress supremo said, “We are forming the government this time, too. But the BJP may resort to horse-trading if we do not get a two-thirds majority to form the government.”
“They had formed the government in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh by indulging in a horse-trading policy. My request to you to vote for TMC in the remaining 142 seats in the second phase elections in the state on 29 April,” she said.
The saffron party has fielded Suvendu Adhikari in Bhabanipur.
Mamata also made it clear that she would be the Chief Minister if Trinamool Congress forms the government in Bengal for the fourth time in a row since 2011, when it had come to power, ousting the 34-year-old CPI-M-led Left regime in the State.
It requires a minimum of 148 assembly seats for a political party to form the government in the state.
Poll analysts in the city felt that the Trinamool Congress supremo’s fear ahead of the second phase might create confusion in the party, toughening to achieve the target of 146 seats in the legislative assembly in the State.
Both the Trinamool Congress and its main challenger, the BJP, were confident of winning more than 100 seats in the first phase polls in the 152 seats in 16 districts of Bengal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP’s challenger-in-chief against the ruling party, and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the number two campaigner for the saffron camp in the Bengal elections, have been claiming that the vote percentage in the first phase is so far indicative of an “overwhelming mandate for change”.
Shah is also confident of bagging a minimum of 110 seats in the first phase of elections. However, the Trinamool Congress leadership, including Mamata, has claimed they are closer towards victory in at least 130 out of 152 seats in the first phase.
Expressing her displeasure over a few police officers, “BJP is sending selected officers to Bengal. Mind it, they (Central observers) will leave the state after 4 May. You will stay with us, and we will feed you sweets. We will take care of your families. Why do you work for the BVJP only? You should also work for the Trinamool Congress and the people of Bengal. This is my request.”
Counting of elections in 294 constituencies will be held on May 4.
Saturday's showdown at Bhabanipur, in which Mamata and Suvendu held rallies barely a hundred meters apart, triggered clashes between supporters of both parties, underscoring the area’s central role as a political epicentre and a hotbed of high-stakes contest.
A feud erupted in Bhabanipur battleground between the two heavyweights in Bengal politics on Saturday night when Mamata walked off stage, citing excessive noise from a BJP loudspeaker.
After she departed from the stage, angry TMC workers marched towards Suvendu's rally to protest, and chaos ensued.
Around 42 per cent of voters are Bengali Hindus, 34 per cent non-Bengali Hindus and nearly 20 per cent Muslims, making the constituency socially diverse and politically sensitive.
It is precisely this arithmetic that appears to have encouraged Suvendu to challenge Mamata on her home turf.
Significantly, with Mamata, the Chief Minister and three-term MLA from the constituency, locked in a direct contest with the opposition leader, BJP heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, the April 29 election has turned Bhabanipur into the state's most closely watched prestige fight.
Bhabanipur is effectively bracing for a symbolic rematch of Nandigram, where Suvendu defeated Mamata, his once political mentor, in 2021 after quitting the TMC and joining the BJP.