The election process is currently underway in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal. The results will be announced on May 2. Of these in the largest states of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu (AIADMK alliance), the BJP has been trying to strengthen its presence for some years now. The BJP has been working relentlessly in West Bengal since 2017. In this context, Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the ruling AITC (Trinamool Congress) there, is not backing down at all.
West Bengal, which has 294 assembly seats, needs to win 148 seats to come to power. With 7.3 crore voters, the first polling will be held on March 27 and the last phase (8) on April 29. The first instalment has already been completed. For the second instalment, the parties fielded all their forces. Already Mamata Banerjee has made some other key remarks. She compared religions, regions, also spoke out about the Jai Shri Ram slogan, Shaikalima, Bengali VS Gujarati and even went on to term the BJP to the demonic party recently. Those in the BJP have been compared to Duryodhana and Dushasana. At the same time, the BJP has added about eight key leaders to its party. The CBI has also carried out raids on the homes of Mamata Banerjee’s relatives in the recent past, including the inclusion of a No. 2 Suvendu Adhikari in the Trinamool. The attack on Mamata Banerjee (though Trinamool claims… there is no evidence) has changed the course in West Bengal. Mamata also made several controversial remarks regarding Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Bangladesh. NRC and CAA were also raked up. At the same time, Modi, Amit Shah, Nadda and other BJP leaders have been targeting Mamata Banerjee with a number of criticisms. An unverified audio clip of Mamata Banerjee calling up a BJP leader and asking him to help her win from Nandigram, where she is contesting also surfaced. This audio clip turned sensational in the state, with the TMC rejecting it saying that it is fake audio. For the first time overall, the BJP is vying for power in West Bengal, while Trinamool is giving the same level of counters to retain its grip.
Stalin in Tamil Nadu
The AIADMK government is currently in power in Tamil Nadu. After the death of CM Jayalalithaa, Panneer Selvam was the CM for some years and later Palani Swamy became the CM. The BJP became crucial there in the wake of the then circumstances. The AIADMK has allotted 20 seats to the BJP in the ongoing assembly elections here. However, even if only 20 seats are allotted, the BJP needs to be in power in Tamil Nadu after Karnataka in the south. With this, even though the seats have been taken less, the BJP is campaigning hard. At the same time, the alliance between Congress and the DMK continues. The DMK has allotted 25 seats to Congress. On the whole, the BJP is cracking down on the DMK chief Stalin as he is playing a key role here. At the same time, the DMK party announced guarantees such as a free washing machine and electricity-free. Stalin also made some key remarks in the wake of the BJP’s allegations against the former at a public rally. The DMK chief said that Modi wants to come to power by using and threatening the CBI, income tax, ED, judiciary, etc. in the country. On the other hand, the remarks made by DMK leader, MP A Raja on Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) stoked a major controversy.
In the Thousand Lights constituency, Raja said that Stalin was a mature man and EPS is not worth standing against him. Also in a bid to differentiate between DMK chief Stalin and Chief Minister Palaniswami’s leadership, Raja stated that EPS’ political career was like a baby born prematurely out of an illicit relationship. AIADMK has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission over these remarks. To come to power in the 234-seat Tamil Nadu Assembly, one has to win 118 seats.