Mumbai, May 5: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said outgoing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee committed a “big mistake” of not listening to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and not holding alliance talks with him, or else the assembly poll results would have been different.
The BJP secured a decisive majority in the 294-member West Bengal assembly by winning 207 seats, ending the Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s 15-year rule in the state. Banerjee was defeated in the prestigious Bhabanipur seat by BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari.
Talking to reporters here, Raut claimed the BJP’s victory in West Bengal is not a win for democracy as lakhs of voters were deleted through Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The Sena (UBT) spokesperson said despite the defeats of prominent opposition leaders like Banerjee and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin in the assembly elections, the future of the Opposition India bloc was very bright.
“Mamata Banerjee committed a big mistake that she did not listen to Rahul Gandhi. Had she talked to Rahul Gandhi and held discussions (on alliance with the Congress before the assembly polls), the results would have been different,” Raut said.
“Whatever Gandhi, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, has said (elections in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu results were stolen) turned out to be true. He is a visionary leader,” he added.
He further said Indira Gandhi had also won majority of states once, yet she faced a drubbing later. The BJP, too, is at the peak now and will be defeated in future.
