Actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty, who had joined the BJP ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls last year, on Wednesday claimed 38 TMC MLAs are in touch with the saffron camp and hinted that Maharashtra-like development could happen in the eastern state too.
He also asserted that 21 of the 38 legislators are directly in touch with him.
"At this moment, 38 TMC MLAs are having very good relations with us. Out of them, 21 are directly in touch with me When I was in Mumbai, I came across the news one fine morning that the Shiv Sena and the BJP had formed the government in Maharashtra. How do you know that same thing will not happen here in West Bengal.
"You might also get up one fine morning and see a similar thing here and wonder what has happened," Chakraborty said while addressing a press conference here.
In Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP, and the Congress collapsed last month after Eknath Shinde raised a banner of revolt against the Sena leadership with a majority of party MLAs.
Shinde was sworn in as the new chief minister of Maharashtra and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as deputy CM in Mumbai.
Chakraborty also stated that today was a "music launch, the movie will release later".
"When we make movies, we launch its music, the trailer, and the movie. Today was the music release," he said, alluding to his claim about 38 TMC MLAs.
He said the BJP is in power in 18 states, and the party's flag will "fly high in a few other states very soon".
"The BJP will not stop its fight in West Bengal. If free and fair polls are held in the state today, the party will form the next government. The saffron party is not only in power at the Centre but also in 18 states. Four (states) others are also crawling to come into our fold," the actor claimed.
His comments came close on the heels of remarks by Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, who claimed that the TMC government in the state won't complete its five-year term as it will be ousted by 2024.
The TMC, while reacting to Chakraborty's allegations, said the famed actor is "trying to fool the people by making false claims".
"Such statements are an attempt to fool the masses. It has no relation with reality," TMC MP Santanu Sen said.
The TMC has 216 MLAs in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly. The opposition BJP has 75 legislators.
However, five saffron camp MLAs have joined the ruling party without resigning as legislators.
Speaking on the arrest of state minister Partha Chatterjee by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged school jobs scam, Chakraborty said if there were pieces of evidence against him, the law would take its own course.
"I don't want to make any personal comment. If he has committed no wrong, he has nothing to worry about. And if there is evidence of any wrongdoing, no one would be able to protect him. The law will take its own course," he said.
The famed actor also blamed parties, which are opposing the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, for spreading canards against the BJP as "anti-minority".
"This is a baseless allegation that the BJP is against Muslims. Had that been true, the party would have never been in power in states with a considerable minority population. The BJP works for every community of the country," he claimed.
