Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee today lashed out at the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh and gave a clarion call to oust the BJP from power in UP, as she pitched in to campaign for Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party in the high-stakes UP Assembly elections.
Speaking at a Samajwadi Party rally in Varanasi, she said: “If you can oust Yogi government from UP in 2024, you can oust the BJP government from the Centre.” She alleged that BJP workers had blocked her convoy while she was travelling from Varanasi airport to a ghat where she was to take part in a Ganga aarti, and her car attacked, with the saffron supporters shouting ‘go back’ slogans and showing black flags.
Miss Banerjee said, “I’m a street fighter and you cannot cow me down. During the Left Front regime in Bengal, I was attacked many times by them but I survived.” She said the attack on her showed the BJP is losing ground in Uttar Pradesh. During the protest yesterday by members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, Miss Banerjee had responded by raising ‘Jai UP, Jai Hind’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’ slogans.
At the rally today, she urged people to vote for Akhilesh Yadav as he is the son of the soil and his allies are seeking to oust the BJP from UP. Banerjee also said if Akhilesh and his allies come to power, he will take up many social schemes for the people of the state.
Miss Banerjee lashed out at both the Centre and Yogi Adityanath, saying that they had promised “achhe din” before elections but really brought “bure din” both in UP and in India. She also slammed the Centre for “inordinate delay” in bringing back stranded Indian students from embattled Ukraine. Without naming the Prime Minister she said it’s the Centre’s responsibility to bring back the stranded students but they are more concerned with election campaign.