I swear I'll topple BJP govt in 2019 general elections: Mamata at TMC rally

She was speaking at a TMC's Martyr's day rally with a crowd of an over a lakh on July 21

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being involved in several scams and pocketing huge sums of money during demonetisation besides fuelling communal tensions, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee upped her ante by vowing to oust the BJP from India.

She was speaking at a Trinamool Congress' (TMC) Martyr's day rally with a crowd of an over a lakh on July 21 in memory of its 13 supporters who were shot by police in 1993

"From August 9 to 30, we'll undertake the BJP Bharat Choro (Quit India) movement. I swear to topple the BJP government in the 2019 general elections — karenge ya marenge (we'll do or die)", she said in Kolkata during the rally, which the TMC celebrates with much fanfare every year.

Her reference to the usage of words by Mahatma Gandhi (during the independence movement) comes in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly referring to Gandhi during several of his addresses.

Banerjee, while assuring her support to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), said that in the forthcoming general elections, all the opposition parties will fight the BJP based on their own merit and tables will turn in the their favour.

Incidentally, she didn't name former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader, Akhilesh Yadav, whom she had met recently while devising ways for a united Opposition to the Centre.

Referring to the Centre of intimidating political opposition and her party leaders by using the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) notices and investigation, Banerjee asked, "In Rajasthan, there is a Rs 1,000 crore scam; in Karnataka there is also a scam; there was the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat was rocked by the Rs 20,000 crore petroleum scam. Why isn't CBI or ED probing these?"

Incidentally, most of these states have a BJP government and the CBI and ED were asked to probe the Saradha and Rose Valley Ponzi scheme scams in West Bengal where lakhs of small investors lost their money. The central agencies are also investigating the Narada sting operation tape, which showed TMC leaders accepting money for supposed favours.

"We don't need character certificate from them (BJP). The people will judge us", she said.

However, Banerjee asserted that the Centre use these agencies to harass and "insult" her party leaders whenever the TMC opposes the Centre's policies. Besides, she alleged that journalists are also being bullied by the Centre.

She also cautioned the BJP that in case the investigating agencies fail to establish evidence on the Saradha and Narada scams, she will file a defamation suit against the BJP worth over Rs 1,000 crore.

Banerjee further accused the BJP of using fake news on Facebook to spread rumours about communal tensions in the state as well as the country and asked her party volunteers to stay vigilant on BJP's social media platforms and report to the police in case of any suspected foul play.

"To hide their scams in various states and divert [the] attention, the BJP is flaring up communal tension. They were instrumental in creating gau rakshaks (cow protectors) who actually are gau rakshas (cow demons)," she said while justifying her statement.

Meanwhile, office goers in Kolkata faced severe inconvenience in transportation. 

However, every year, daily life is hit on this very day as buses (government and private), auto rickshaws, taxis and other means of road transport go off their daily routine to dedicatedly ferry thousands of TMC supporters from Kolkata upcountry and other towns and villages.