Union Minister Babul Supriyo today took a dig at the Trinamool Congress and said the ruling party in Bengal will be wiped out of the state by 2021 when the assembly elections are likely to be held.
In a sarcastic tweet, BJP leader Babul Supriyo said: "'19 mein 'HALF' huye, '21 mein 'SAAF' hojayenge (Trinamool Samabesh). (The party was reduced to half its strength in 2019, it will be wiped out by 2021) (sic)."
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee this afternoon kicked off the poll campaign for the state elections at the Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata. She attacked the BJP over black money and demonetisation, among other issues. The mega rally was held nearly two months after the rival BJP delivered an impressive performance in the national elections and won 18 of 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
In the national elections, the Trinamool Congress, which won 22 of 42 seats, lost 12 seats while the BJP, which won 18 seats, gained 16 seats compared to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Mr Supriyo had made a similar remark last month when he said that Mamata-led government won't last till 2021. "The head of Bengali community is down with shame not only in India but across the world just because of the present scenario in West Bengal," he had said.
Ahead of TMC's mega rally, the BJP and Trinamool Congress sparred on Saturday over the Trinamool event as the Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh called the annual event a "circus".
A first information report was filed by the Trinamool Congress against Mr Ghosh for allegedly threatening to drag TMC leaders out of buses on their way to the rally, if they failed to return the "cut money" or commission, which they have been accused of collecting from people to deliver government services that are free of cost.
Ms Banerjee also accused the BJP-led central government of trying to "foil" the mega rally by operating only 30 per cent of the trains usually run on Sundays.
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