Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday again made a prediction for the Bengal poll results, claiming at least 122 victories for the BJP in the 180 seats that have gone to polls over the five phases, making his party just about 26 short of majority in the 294-seat Assembly.

Chief minister and Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee dismissed the lofty claims and asserted that the saffron camp would never be able to invade Bengal.

At a rally in East Burdwan’s Purbasthali North, Shah said: “Didi (Mamata) got very demoralised after the fifth phase of polls.”

“What is the reason? After the five phases it has become definite that BJP is much ahead of Didi with more than 122 seats,” he added.

Shah has been making such claims after every phase of polling in Bengal in a bid to contribute to the saffron ecosystem’s narrative that the battle for Bengal is already decisively over in the BJP’s favour.

Paying no heed to Shah’s claims, Mamata in a poll rally in North 24-Parganas’s Khardah, said: “The BJP can never win in Bengal. They will not win.”

“What can I say to them? They will get nothing,” she said. “Some leader says they have completed a century, some say they have completed a double century (in winning seats). Some say they have created a double engine. You know what I think I should tell them? Nothing at all, because they are lying…. Liars.”

It is equally important for Mamata to keep fighting the perception battle to ensure predictions by Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi don’t damage her party’s chances in the crucial remaining three phases, said an observer.

“There are three vital phases, with 114 crucial seats – most of which we are likely to win,” said a senior Trinamul leader. “Even by conservative estimates, we are winning at least 110 seats (out of 180) in the first five phases and 80-plus in the rest three. Modi and Shah know we have a clear path to victory. They are playing these games to try and unsettle the minds of floating voters.”