Lumpen elements once with the Communists are now with TMC: Vinay Sahasrabuddhe

Lumpen elements who were once with the Communists have now joined the TMC in West Bengal, BJP national vice-president and Rajya Sabha member Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said on Friday.

He alleged that the Left and the TMC have changed "labels", but in reality are the same.

Speaking at the release of a report card of the BJP-led central government prepared by Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC), Sahasrabuddhe said that the next report card will be of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, which will be released next week, days ahead of the second phase of the general elections to be held on April 18.

"The people of the state had voted the TMC to power expecting change from the 30 years of Left rule, but in return they did not get anything," he claimed.

"They had talked of 'maa, mati, manush' and even we believed that she was an experienced leader and she will initiate change. However, from 2011-2016 and 2016 till now, we have seen that her talk of 'maa, mati manush' is just talk. In reality its just about vote bank politics.

"The vote bank which was with the Communists, the lumpen elements who were with them have now changed groups and joined Mamata. That is why the label of the Left has changed, TMC has come, but the people are the same, the style is the same, that of violence...They consider the Bangladeshis who have come here as their vote bank that is why the people who are from here are afraid. That is why people will use their votes against this terror," said the BJP leader who is also the Director of the PPRC.

The BJP has its focus on West Bengal which sends 42 members to Lok Sabha. It is third only to Maharashtra's 48 and Uttar Pradesh's 80 as far as LS seats are concerned.

"It (the report) will be an X-ray of the promises made by the TMC in Bengal. We have used publicly available data for the report. We will release it on Monday, maybe in Bengal," he said.

The organisation is also scheduled to release such reports on Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.