As the Congress has miserably failed to put up a fight against the BJP, the people of India have put the onus on the Trinamool Congress to create a new India by ousting the “fascist” saffron party, chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed.

The TMC has earned the trust of the people across the country after its resounding victory against the BJP in the assembly polls held in the state earlier this year, Miss Banerjee asserted in an article titled Dilli r Daak (Call of Delhi) in the puja edition of the party mouthpiece Jago Bangla.

“The BJP has failed to digest its defeat in the assembly polls and is pursuing vendetta politics. Right now, there is a new challenge before the TMC – the call of Delhi. The people of this country want respite from the anti-people policies and politics and defeat of the fascist forces,” she said in the article.

Miss Banerjee visited Delhi in July and held parleys with opposition leaders to explore ways to cobble together anti-BJP Front parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“The people of the country are now dreaming of a new India around the TMC. Crossing the boundaries of Bengal, the TMC is getting calls from various states. They want that Bengal should lead the fight for a new India. That is why
we are saying we have to respond to people’s calls. We have to fulfil the wishes of the people and bring together all anti-BJP forces on one platform,” she said.

Veteran Congress leader and former Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro recently joined the TMC. The party is also eyeing to dislodge the BJP from power in Tripura. Noting that she has never considered keeping the Congress out of a united platform of anti-BJP forces, the TMC boss said such a platform should be based on policies.

“But the fact is, in the recent past, Congress has failed to put up a fight against the BJP. In the last two Lok Sabha polls, it was proved. If you can’t provide a fight at the Centre, it breaks the confidence of the masses, and the BJP  gains a few more votes in states. We cannot allow this to happen this time.

“We don’t want the leadership of this alliance. But the Congress has to understand and accept the reality or else there will be a gap in the alliance. There should not be any gap, any lacunae in forming an anti-BJP force at the all-India level this time,” Miss Banerjee said in the article. She claimed that the TMC’s development model has defeated the saffron party’s juggernaut.

“The people of the country have faith in this (TMC) model. We have to present the most workable model which can meet the aspirations of the people of India. The TMC will not move a step backwards in fulfilling the aspirations of the people,” she said. The article came a week after TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, accused the Congress of “sitting idle” and indulging in armchair politics and advised it to hit the streets to fight the BJP.