By ANI
NEW DELHI: Taking a jibe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her ‘khela hobe’ statement, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Meenakshi Lekhi on Sunday said that magic would happen on May 2 when the results of the assembly polls are announced.
This came after Banerjee threw a challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, saying she is ready to play (khela hobe) one to one, while addressing a public gathering in West Bengal’s Siliguri today.
The BJP leader hit out at the West Bengal CM and said, “The fuel prices in West Bengal are the highest. Rs 30 is levied as sales tax on petrol.”
Slamming the WB CM, Lekhi told ANI, “She pretends to wear slippers but spends Rs 15 crore on advertisements.”
The BJP MP said, “The election result will tell us whether the establishment of factories would have earned profits for TATA or the state lost in the matter. We will wait for the magic which is to be happening on May 2.”
BJP on Saturday fielded Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram against TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, setting the stage for a high-profile contest from the seat in the state assembly elections.
“I am confident that BJP will win the state Assembly election in West Bengal,” she said. Lekhi said, “The TMC came to power in West Bengal removing the Left to bring changes in the state but their deeds are the same as the Left party.”
She accused TMC-led state government of stalling the development of West Bengal.
“People in West Bengal need a government with new hope and ideas,” she added.
During the Prime Minister’s rally in Kolkata today, BJP inducted veteran-actor-turned politician Mithun Chakraborty into the party. With this, Chakraborty joined the long list of former TMC members to join BJP including Suvendu Adhikari, Rajib Banerjee and several others in the run-up to Assembly elections.
West Bengal is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with TMC, Congress-Left alliance and the BJP in the fray.
The Assembly elections in the state will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
After winning 3 seats in the 2016 Assembly election in West Bengal, the BJP made deep inroads in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections winning 18 seats and reducing TMC’s tally to 22. Out of the total 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, Congress won two seats, the Left drew a blank.
