Amit Shah sets target of winning 35 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal

Suri (WB): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday set a target for the BJP to win 35 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in next year’s election, and said the Mamata Banerjee government in the state won't survive beyond 2025.

Stating that Narendra Modi would again be the prime minister of the country in 2024, Shah asserted that leaders like Mamata Banerjee, can never give a befitting reply to Pakistan or fight militancy in Kashmir.

Shah's comments drew sharp reactions from the TMC, which asked how a union minister could "openly threaten to topple an elected government" before it completes its full term.

"Let me make it very clear that in 2024, Narendra Modi will again be the country's Prime Minister. The people of Bengal have given us great responsibility by giving us 77 seats in the last assembly polls.

“Give us more than 35 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal, and I can assure you that the corrupt TMC government won't survive beyond 2025," he said while addressing a rally in the Suri area in Birbhum district.

The Mamata Banerjee government is scheduled to complete its third term in 2026.

The BJP won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the 2019 elections.

Leaders like Mamata Banerjee can "never give a befitting reply to Pakistan, fight militancy in Kashmir,” the BJP leader said adding that only Prime Minister Modi is capable of handling such national issues.

Criticising the TMC over the arrest of its ministers and leaders in graft cases by ED and CBI, Shah said the party should be ashamed of itself.

"Electing Narendra Modi again as the PM would be the trailer before removing Mamata Banerjee from power in Bengal," said Shah, considered the principal electoral strategist of the saffron party.

Referring to the criticism that central agencies have targetted the TMC for political reasons, Shah said those who engage in corruption and loot will eventually end up in prison.

He claimed Banerjee does not care about the youth of Bengal who were being duped in the school jobs scam as her only target is to make "her nephew the next chief minister of this state".

"But let me clarify, the next West Bengal chief minister will be from the BJP. Only the BJP can fight and defeat the corrupt TMC. Under Mamata Banerjee’s rule, West Bengal has turned into a hub of bomb-making factories," the union home minister claimed.

Banerjee's nephew Abhishek is TMC's national general secretary and a two-time MP.

Referring to recent clashes during Ram Navami rallies in West Bengal, Shah said once the BJP wins more than 35 seats, "no one would dare to attack Ram Navami rallies in the state." Prohibitory orders were imposed in West Bengal's Hooghly and Howrah districts, where clashes broke out between two groups during the Ram Navami procession. A youth from Bihar's Munger was also arrested for carrying arms during a Ram Navami procession, who the TMC has claimed was a BJP supporter.

"Parties like the TMC, Congress and communists had created roadblocks in the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya for years. But Modi-ji laid the foundation stone of the Ram Mandir," he said.

Shah's comments drew sharp reactions from the TMC.

"He can dream of winning 35 seats, just like bagging 200 plus seats in the 2021 assembly polls. How can a union minister openly threaten to topple an elected government before it completes its full term? It is now proved that a conspiracy is on to topple the state government," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

Referring to Shah’s attack on TMC on the issue of dynasty politics, Ghosh said, "It seems Shah has forgotten that its leader in Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari himself, is a product of dynasty politics." Suvendu is the son of Sisir Adhikari, a TMC MP, who has joined the BJP. Several of his family members are also political leaders in Bengal.

After speaking at the rally in Suri, Shah inaugurated the district party office in Suri.