Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that the next government at the Centre was not going to be led either by the BJP or the Congress, maintaining that no single party was going to get past the magic mark of majority.

In an interview to ABP Ananda, the Bengal chief minister said regional parties would get together to form the government, backed by the Congress. She, however, skirted questions on who the next Prime Minister would be.

Mamata spoke on a range of issues during the interview. Excerpts from the interview follow.

Post-poll scenario

“No single party will secure the magic number. The BJP might be the single-largest party, but it might score at the most 150-160 seats and thus cannot form the government,” she said.

“The regional parties are very strong in their respective states like Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana. The Congress and the BJP have secured a few states, but they can’t beat the regional parties in other states. So, Bengal will play a key role in forming the government at the Centre and UP will also matter because of its numbers,” she added, refusing to accept that such a government was unlikely to be stable.

Asked about a pre-poll alliance, Mamata said she had tried for it just three months ago, but not everybody agreed.

“It didn’t work. But it does not matter. Even a post-poll alliance will work,” she said.

“I won’t go into details so soon, but I am quite sure United India will agree on a common minimum agenda. If the BJP doesn’t get close to 270, even the President cannot help them. There is a smaller majority on one hand and the magic majority on the other,” she added.

Election Commission

Mamata questioned the commission’s decision to transfer officials ahead of the polls.

“Money is flying, the BJP is inundating the election process with money, trying to influence the outcome…. Those who could have caught it have been removed. Those who have been brought in are under the Election Commission,” she said.

“District magistrates are being threatened by the Election Commission. They are threatening from there. They are saying we will have you suspended within half-an-hour if Narendra Modi’s meeting does not take place properly,” she added.

Asked if she meant that was being done directly by the commission, Mamata said: “Yes. The district magistrates have not told me this. I have heard of videoconferences…. They have threatened everybody…. Even (Bengal chief electoral officer) Aariz (Aftab) has been threatened. Aariz has not told me. I swear on God, they didn’t tell me.”

“There is a deputy election commissioner called Sudeep Jain (in charge of Bengal), he has told the DM, ‘if you don’t give permission for the Prime Minister’s meeting, I don’t know about legalities, I will have you suspended within half an hour’,” she added.

Reiterating her allegations against excesses by central forces in Bengal, Mamata said she “loves” the forces, but they were going overboard and accused them of persuading people to vote for the BJP.

“The commission says DMs and SPs are under it, they are told not to listen to the chief minister. This rule itself is wrong. I will challenge this in future,” she said.

“I question why the Election Commission will comprise three nominated people… party people. A collegium should be created. If every game is played through money, democracy will be finished,” she added.

Personal punches

“It is entirely because of that man (Modi) that the level of political discourse in this campaign has become abysmal. This is unprecedented,” she said.

“Such language has never been heard from a prime minister. It is a matter of great shame,” she added.

Asked why she had been going personal in retaliation — bringing up his mother and wife — she said that was different.

“It is because he is a fascist liar…. He has been suppressing facts — out of sheer arrogance — in his affidavits for the elections. Somebody had to call him out. Someone who doesn’t even look after his own family cannot look after the people as his family,” she said.

Post-Fani phone calls

“He (Modi) knew that I was in Kharagpur. Why didn’t he call on my mobile phone? I speak to all, including (Telangana chief minister) K. Chandrashekar Rao, (Andhra Pradesh chief minister) Chandrababu Naidu, (Delhi chief minister) Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul (Gandhi) on my mobile phone. Everybody else calls, everybody has my number. Why didn’t he (Modi)?” asked Mamata.

She was responding to questions on the allegation of a constitutional crisis levelled by Modi because she did not respond to post-Fani phone calls from his office.

The chief minister said Modi could have easily called on her mobile phone as he knew her number and accused him of using central agencies to tap her phone.

“He taps my phone. He even reads my WhatsApp messages. He could have easily called on my cellphone,” said the chief minister.

Mamata said it was not possible for her to know Modi would call.

“How would I guess when he (Modi) would call? Should I wait for his call (cancelling all programmes)? Don’t I have other programmes?” she asked.