Actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections last year, on Wednesday claimed that 38 Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs are in touch with the BJP and of these, 21 legislators are directly in touch with him.
“Do you want to hear breaking news? At this moment, 38 TMC MLAs are in touch with the BJP. Out of these, 21 are in direct touch with me. When I was in Mumbai, I read in newspapers one fine morning that the Shiv Sena and the BJP have formed the government in Maharashtra,” he said while addressing a presser in Kolkata. He added that the BJP is in power in 18 states, and its flag will “fly high in a few other states very soon”.
#WATCH | West Bengal: Do you want to hear breaking news? At this moment, 38 TMC MLAs have very good relations with us, out of which 21 are in direct (contact with us): BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty in Kolkata pic.twitter.com/1AI7kB4H5I
— ANI (@ANI) July 27, 2022
Reacting to this, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC said Chakraborty is “trying to fool the people by making false claims”. TMC MP Santanu Sen said such statements are an attempt to fool the masses as it has no relation with reality. Sen also reportedly said, “Had heard that he was hospitalised. I think it was a mental illness not physical. No one in Bengal will even believe what he is trying to say.”
Chief Minister Banerjee during an event at the 25th anniversary of Titagarh Wagon factory programme said it is not easy for the BJP to break West Bengal as they will have to fight the “Royal Bengal Tiger first”.
“They (BJP) have no work, their job is to take over the state governments through three-four agencies. They have taken Maharashtra, now Jharkhand but West Bengal has defeated them. It’s not easy to break Bengal as you have to fight the Royal Bengal Tiger first,” she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Moreover, she also exuded confidence that BJP still would lose the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “I don’t know how, but I can say they will not come to power… The government at the Centre is more dangerous than the British Raj,” the CM said.
The TMC has 216 MLAs in the 294-member West Bengal assembly while opposition BJP has 75 legislators. However, five BJP MLAs have joined the ruling TMC without resigning as legislators.
(with inputs from PTI)
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