Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Monday that 2024 Lok Sabha Election would be her "final battle" to oust BJP from power single-handedly at the Centre. The Trinamul Congress supremo revealed her bold national ambition for the first time at the foundation day rally of her party's student wing
She said, "We have the guts. We shall defeat BJP. Battle for Delhi is going to be our last fight to remove BJP from power. Protecting Bengal is our first battle. While ensuring that, I promise we will oust BJP in Delhi in 2024 when no one would be able to fight them there."
Angry with the summons to eight IPS officers by the ED for grilling in the coal smuggling case, the TMC chief pointed out, "We also have corruption cases against CBI, ED, BSF, CRPF and other central officers here. We will act against them legally if anything happens wrong with my police officers who are summoned to Delhi."
Her threat coincided with the allegations of astronomical growth in properties of her family members against whom a public interest litigation (PIL) with the demand of a probe by the CBI, ED and I-T was filed by an individual, Arijit Majumdar, at the Calcutta High Court in the morning.
The CM, while reacting to the PIL which claims that her family members– including her sister-in-law turned TMC councillor Kajori Banerjee– acquired many government properties through shell firms and shoddy trusts at a lower price than the market rate since 2013, observed, "Someone told me today: Didi, a case has been filed against me at the court. I wanted to know from him about the case. So he said it is about the huge growth of property of mine and my family members. I then asked whether it was about my property!"
She added, "I feel the case should have been filed at the international court. Otherwise, whatever BJP will feed will be reflected. I was supposed to get ₹1 lakh as monthly MP pension. But I never availed it in the last 12 years. The students can calculate the amount. As the CM, I never took a total earning of ₹3.5 lakhs including wages and other bills in these years. I even have tea on my own money while traveling. As brothers and sisters in our family we only maintain contacts on the occasion of festivals. All of them live with their families separately after their marriages. They have no relations other than festivals like Durga Puja, Kali Puja."
Attacking the BJP, the CM questioned the source of party funds for organizing a Chintan Shibir at an upscale resort, Vedic Village, in the city before targeting the central agencies' for recent actions on many senior TMC leaders in various scams.
Ms Banerjee along with her MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee-– who also addressed the event— feared fresh steps by the central agencies against their party leaders in next few days like the arrest of former minister Partha Chatterjee by the ED in the School Service Commission jobs scam, a day after the Martyr's Day rally of TMC on July 21.
