West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee announced on Wednesday that her party would lend “outside support” to the opposition INDIA bloc to form the government at the Centre. She also vowed to repeal the CAA, NRC, and UCC once the BJP government is voted out of power.

Expressing doubt regarding the BJP’s ambitious goal of securing 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, she said people would firmly reject them.

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“BJP is claiming that it will win 400 seats, but people are saying it will not happen. The entire country has understood that the BJP is a party full of thieves. We (TMC) will support the INDIA bloc from outside to form a government at the Centre. We will extend our support so that in (West) Bengal, our mothers and sisters never face a problem… and those who work in the 100 days’ job scheme, also do not face problems,” Banerjee said.

However, while addressing an election rally in Chinsurah, Hooghly district, the TMC chief clarified that her party would not support the Congress and CPI(M) in West Bengal. Banerjee accused both parties, part of the INDIA alliance, of aiding the BJP in the state.

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“Do not count on the CPI(M) and the Congress in Bengal. They are not with us, they are with the BJP here. I am talking about that (INDIA bloc) in Delhi,” she clarified.

Banerjee also recalled Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s defeat in the 2004 elections, despite the BJP’s ‘India Shining’ slogan, saying, “Nobody was able to predict Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s defeat in 2004. He gave the slogan ‘India Shining’ but the winds changed and the people didn’t vote for him.”

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Criticising the Election Commission (EC) for scheduling the polls in seven phases spanning over two months, Banerjee alleged that this decision favoured the saffron party while disregarding the hardships faced by the common people due to excessive heat.

“The Election Commission is a puppet and operates according to Modi’s directions. Polls are being held for two-and-half months, have you (poll officials) ever realised the struggle of the common people,” Banerjee said.

Accompanied by the party’s Hooghly nominee, actress Rachana Banerjee, the CM accused Modi of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by allegedly announcing plans to expand the Ayushman Bharat Yojana to cover senior citizens over 70 years of age during the ongoing elections.

“Why are you saying this now when the elections are on? You should have announced this earlier… Modi babu, you are violating the MCC,” she said.

Banerjee reiterated her party’s steadfast opposition to the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC), and Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Bengal. Later, she participated in a roadshow from Ichapur Water Tank to Pilkhana More in Howrah in support of the party’s Howrah Lok Sabha candidate Prasun Banerjee.