Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday demanded Union home minister Amit Shah’s resignation, questioning the constitutional propriety of his prediction last week that the Trinamul government would implode before 2025 if the BJP won 35 seats in the general election next year.
The term of the Trinamul government, elected with a historic mandate in 2021, lasts till May 2026.
“Is the Union home minister part of a conspiracy to topple a fully functional state government? How can a Union government representative say such things? Amit Shah is the Union home minister, he should be an upholder of the Constitution. Instead, is he engaging in toppling the federal structure of our country?” Mamata asked on Monday.
“We want to state this in clear and concise language. Amit Shah has no right to make such false claims, and if he does so, then he has no right to remain the home minister of our country. We demand the resignation of the Union home minister in a constitutional manner,” the chief minister added.
At a BJP rally in Suri, Birbhum, Shah had said on Friday: “In 24, give us 35 seats. I am telling you, there will be no need for 25. Even before 25, Mamatadi’s government will become ka-da-da-da bhooss (an expression implying collapse or implosion).”
Sources close to Mamata said she had waited till the Bengali New Year celebrations were over before commenting.
“Will he create his own law now? Is he replacing the Constitution? The Centre is already trying to replace the history of our country. They are tinkering with the judiciary too, while law and order in our country and the states governed by the BJP remain in a shambles,” Mamata said.
Shah’s statement has compounded Trinamul’s suspicion that the BJP might launch Operation Lotus, a term denoting the ouster of non-BJP governments through defections, in Bengal too when it feels the situation is conducive.
In a rarity, the Congress and the Left had joined Trinamul in ridiculing the 35-seat target.
Mamata also brought up the murder of former Samajwadi Party MP and alleged gangster Atiq Ahmed in Uttar Pradesh to bolster her argument against the law-and-order situation in BJP-ruled states.
“The other day in Uttar Pradesh, a ghastly incident took place. If someone dies in the custody of the police, what should we say about law and order in that state?” she asked.
“I am not supporting any crime; most of the crimes are done by the BJP itself. But we need to ask this question, what is going on in this country? Whoever you want, you kill them? You hack them, you thrash them? You set investigative agencies after them to harass them?” she asked.
Mamata, who has been showing signs of recalibration towards the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, said: "What is going on nationally? We usually don’t bring up abroad what’s going on here....Your doing things is not your fault (but) if others talk about it, they are at fault?"
She recalled how the saffron ecosystem had tried to accost her whenever she went abroad. “When I need to go abroad, I will certainly speak the truth. I have the right to do so,” she added.
Mamata again urged the non-BJP forces across the country to unite for the sake of the nation.
“Let us all get together to save our country and its federal structure. The Union home minister claims that they will get 35 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal; they don’t have the might to get even five seats,” the chief minister said.
“I can say this with certainty that the BJP is not coming to power in 2024, so their dream of toppling the Bengal government by 2025 will remain a pipedream. People will not vote on the basis of ‘thok do (murder them)’, people will vote on the basis of ‘kaam do (give us work)’,” Mamata added.
