Rise of BJP in West Bengal 'an illusion': TMC

In Bengal, the party will not be able to secure major opposition space, says Mukul Roy

The ruling Trinamool Congress has dismissed talk that BJP is emerging as a potential opposition force which could effectively counter it in the 2016 Assembly elections in West Bengal, claiming that the saffron party's success was "an illusion".

"In Bengal, BJP will not be able to secure major opposition space. This (success of BJP in Lok Sabha elections in the state) is for the time-being and (only) an illusion. This will be proved in the coming Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls and in the elections to several municipalities," Trinamool Congress General Secretary Mukul Roy told PTI here.

"You are talking of the rise in the BJP's percentage of votes, but not taking into account that (in the Lok Sabha elections) the party lost deposits in 136 of the 294 Assembly segments in the state. The party took a lead in only 23 Assembly segments," he claimed.

TMC, on the other hand, took a lead in 216 Assembly segments, he said.

Told that BJP's vote share rose to 17.6% in the state in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections -- its highest ever in the state -- Roy said, "In the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had got 13.1% of the votes."

BJP's vote share in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls in the state was 6.15%.