West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav at Trinamool Congress Martyrs Day rally in Kolkata on July 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri
Six weeks after the Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav shared a dais at a political event in Kolkata on July 21 and said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government would not last long.
“The government at the Centre is a guest for a few days. I had said in the Lok Sabha, and I am saying it now. The government in Delhi won’t last long; the government will collapse,” Mr. Yadav said at the Trinamool Congress Martyrs’ Day rally.
Ms. Banerjee also spoke in a similar vein that the BJP-led government at the Centre would not last long as it had been formed through “intimidation” by Central agencies.
The SP president said there were divisive forces that wanted to rule the country and people had to come together to save the nation.
Emphasising that people of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal defeated the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Yadav heaped praises on Ms. Banerjee and urged the people at the gathering to support her in her fight.
The West Bengal Chief Minister also praised the SP chief and said Mr. Yadav’s party had emerged as the second largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha. The SP has got 35 seats and the TMC 29 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Like Mr. Yadav, Ms. Banerjee said she would fight against communalism and the Trinamool Congress would never join hands with the BJP. “I called Akhilesh ji so that he can see this. Now we will join forces and work across the country,” she said. The presence of Mr. Yadav at the Trinamool rally in Kolkata assumes significance as Ms. Banerjee is trying to have a front of regional parties against the NDA government.
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Slams NDA allies
Ms. Banerjee came down heavily on the NDA allies and called them “cowards and greedy individuals who yielded to financial inducements”. “Has anyone ever heard of money being offered instead of ministries? They are cowards, shameless, and greedy. They sacrificed their own identities,” she said.
Addressing the gathering, Ms. Banerjee and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee gave out stern message to party leaders asking them to be “soft and gentle with people and suppress greed.”
“Trinamool is not a political party but a platform to work for the people,” the Chief Minister said, adding that after any victory the responsibility of the party increased.
Ms. Banerjee also highlighted that her government is not shy of taking action against Trinamool leaders if there are complaints against them.
Over the past few weeks there have been several incidents of mob assault and kangaroo courts where allegations have been levelled against local TMC leaders.
Mr. Abhishek Banerjee also vowed to take action against public representatives of the party “who were unable to persuade the people and get the desired results during the polls.”
“Be it a town president, municipality chairman, gram panchayat pradhan, or anchal president, similar action will be taken against all, and no one will be spared,” he said.
The TMC leaders assured the people of benefits of welfare schemes such as Lakshmir Bhandar, Kanyashree and Awaas Yojana and urged party leaders not to become complacent for the Assembly polls scheduled for 2026.
“On July 21’s dais today, we need to pledge that the upcoming victories should be greater than the victories in 2016, 2021, and 2024,” Mr. Abhishek Banerjee said.