Salute to Arun Goyal for not succumbing to BJP pressure: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata: A day after Election Commissioner Arun Goyal resigned from the post, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday praised him for not succumbing to pressure from the BJP and said the saffron camp will lose the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking at a mega rally of TMC at the Brigade Parade Ground here, Banerjee said Goyal’s sudden resignation proved that “the BJP is attempting to steal votes in the Lok Sabha elections”.
“I salute Arun Goyal for not succumbing to the pressure from Delhi leaders (BJP) and their top bosses with regard to West Bengal Lok Sabha elections and deployment of forces. It has been proved that he (BJP) led NDA government) are doing.” Want to do it in the name of elections. They want to steal votes,” he said.
Election Commissioner Arun Goyal resigned on Saturday, days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
His tenure was till December 5, 2027 and he would have become the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after the retirement of incumbent Rajeev Kumar in February next year.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over allegations of misappropriation of central funds in West Bengal, the TMC supremo said, “The Prime Minister should check the facts with the authorities before making baseless allegations against Bengal.”
“He is only inaugurating projects in Bengal but not releasing funds for the state. This is his guarantee. He has made all false promises,” he said.
Trinamool Congress on Sunday announced its list of candidates for 42 Lok Sabha seats and launched its election campaign with a grand rally at Kolkata’s famous Brigade Parade ground.
The TMC chief reiterated that his party, which is a partner of opposition faction Bharatiya Janata Party, will contest the Lok Sabha elections alone in Bengal.
“We will contest the Lok Sabha elections alone in Bengal and fight against Congress, BJP and CPI(M). We will also contest in Assam and Meghalaya. We are in talks with (SP’s) Akhilesh Yadav to contest a poll in Uttar Pradesh. Lok Sabha seat,” he said while addressing the ‘Jan Garjan Sabha’.
