Cornered by BJP and various central agencies, Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee called upon the people of Delhi to vote for Aam Admi Party (AAP) in the Delhi assembly elections scheduled to be held on Saturday.
“Delhi elections on 7. My request to all of you in Delhi to please vote for AAP. For the greater need of the country and development in Delhi,” Banerjee tweeted in the evening on Thursday.
While she apparently has nothing to do with the results of the Delhi elections, political analysts see this as Mamata’s desperate bid to see that the BJP suffer a jolt at the national capital. Trinamool Congress has its back on the wall in Bengal over Saradha scam. Mamata Banerjee has alleged that BJP is using CBI as a political tool to harass the ruling party of Bengal.
“CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) are sending our leaders to jails and BJP leaders are using this opportunity to enforce a split in the party. The party desperately needs setbacks for BJP in other parts of the country,” a Trinamool leader told HT while commenting on Mamata’s tweet. He, however, declined to be named.
Earlier, neither Mamata Banerjee nor any Trinamool leader ever praised AAP or its leader, Arvind Kejriwal, on any issue. Whenever asked to comment on AAP’s ‘clean politics’ or Kejriwal’s down-to-earth image, Trinamool leaders maintained that Mamata’s life and politics were better examples.
However, Mamata always hinted that she would stand by anyone – including her archrival the Left Front – when it’s the question of fighting the BJP.
“We believe AAP has a bright prospect in the Delhi assembly polls. But we are afraid Mamata’s ‘blessings’ may actually act as a ‘curse’ for AAP,” CPI(M) MP and central committee member Mohammad Selim told HT, hinting at the contrast between AAP’s clean image and the Trinamool’s scam-tainted image.
BJP and Congress, on the other hand, said her proactive support to AAP reveals the amount of trouble the party is going through.
“The decision reflects the frustration she is going through. She wants to stay relevant at national politics at any cost,” Shamik Bhattacharya, BJP’s lone MLA is Bengal at present, told HT.
“She is feeling shipwrecked and has gone directionless,” state Congress leader Arunabha Ghosh said.
