INDIA bloc will form the government, Mamata will support it: Jairam Ramesh

Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh addresses a press conference. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on May 29 said the BJP would get fewer seats in West Bengal than the 18 (of the 42) it won in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections because it was imposing “north Indian symbols” on this “unique” State. “The INDIA alliance is set to form government at the Centre with Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress on board,” he said.

“(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (Home Minister Amit) Shah are running a north Indian campaign in Bengal, not Bengal-centric. They have no idea about Bengali culture and ethos; they are imposing north Indian style, symbols and issues in a unique State like Bengal,” Mr. Ramesh, who has been putting a set of questions to Mr. Modi each time the latter campaigned in West Bengal, told The Hindu.

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On Wednesday, coinciding with Mr. Modi’s visit to the State ahead of the final round of the seven-phase elections, the Congress leader said on X, ”Today’s questions for the outgoing PM’s West Bengal visit: 1. Is the outgoing PM withholding ₹7,000 crore of ration funds so that his face is plastered on ration shops? 2. Did Suvendu Adhikari’s CBI case get washed away in BJP’s washing machine? 3. Does the PM prioritise his PR over vaccines for India’s children?”

Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu that between 2011-13, when he was the Rural Development Minister at the Centre, a lot of funds were given to West Bengal towards construction of roads, MNREGA and other welfare schemes. “I went out of my way to make sure funds were released and that there was proper utilisation,” he said, alleging that the Modi Government has done nothing for the State during the past five years and that people were beginning to realise it.

“When I was in Bengal in February during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, I found even people who had voted for the BJP in 2019 re-examining their choice. Even in 2019, they got 18 seats because of the mass migration of CPM votes. But this election there will be a decline, not just in Bengal but in the whole country,” Mr. Ramesh said.

The Congress leader said he was confident about the INDIA alliance forming government once the results were declared, and that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress would be considered a part of that victory.

“I still believe Mamata Banerjee is a part of INDIA. There was no seat-sharing (in the State between her party and the Congress) due to certain misunderstandings, but she is very much a part of the alliance. INDIA will form the government and she will support it — whether from inside or outside will be decided later—but she will be a part of it,” Mr. Ramesh said.