BJP-led NDA Government may not last long, 'khela' has begun, says Mamata Banerjee in Mumbai

Mumbai, July 12

The BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre was unstable, and may not complete its term, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday as she met two key INDIA bloc leaders in Mumbai more than a month after the Lok Sabha poll results.

She criticised the Centre over the three new criminal laws that came into force on July 1 and also on the issue of declaration of June 25 as Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ by the NDA government, but clarified her party does not support the 1975-77 Emergency when rights of citizens were curtailed, political leaders were sent to jail and censorship on the media was imposed.

Banerjee, who heads the Trinamool Congress, separately met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar during her first visit to Mumbai after the declaration of Lok Sabha poll results on June 4.

“This government (which assumed office on June 9) may not continue also. This is not a stable government,” she said at a press conference with Thackeray after meeting him at his residence `Matoshree’ in Bandra for the first time after the Lok Sabha poll results which showed the INDIA grouping did better than expected.

“Khela (the game) has begun, It will go on,” Banerjee said when asked to elaborate.

The Trinamool Congress, the NCP (SP) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) are constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc.

On the Union government’s move to observe June 25, the day when a state of the Emergency was declared in 1975, as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’, the Trinamool Congress maintained times associated with the draconian measures imposed by the Indira Gandhi government were being seen most during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The West Bengal CM said no one was consulted when bills on three new laws – the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) — that replaced the Indian Penal Code(IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure(CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively, were tabled in Parliament.

The three criminal law amendment bills were passed when a large number of MPs were suspended, she said, adding many people are afraid of these new codes.

“We do not support the Emergency….(but) charity begins at home,” she asserted.

Referring to the defeat of the Shiv Sena candidate from the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat by just 48 votes, Banerjee said similar victories were achieved in many other constituencies.

On the INDIA alliance in her state, she said the TMC cannot adjust with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) because her party fought the Left Front and came to power.

Banerjee emphasised it was “absolutely unethical” to take away the name and symbol from the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena but added it fought like a tiger.

The Shiv Sena split in June 2022 and the party name and ‘bow and arrow’ symbol were given to the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The Bengal CM said she would campaign for Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) in the Maharashtra assembly polls likely to be held in October-November.

Later in the day, Banerjee met Pawar, another key INDIA grouping leader, at his residence ‘Silver Oak’ in south Mumbai.

In Maharashtra, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bagged 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, stunning the ruling Mahayuti, which comprises the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the NCP.

Constituents of the MVA, including the Congress, are members of the INDIA alliance at the national level.