Mamata predicts Lok Sabha polls this December

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may go for early Lok Sabha polls which are due in April-May next year.

The TMC chief, who was speaking at a TMC youth wing rally, claimed that all choppers have been booked by the ruling party at the Centre for campaigning so that no other political party can use those for canvassing.

The chief minister also blamed some people engaged in “unlawful activities” for the illegal firecracker factory blasts that have occurred in the state. She alleged that this was being done “with support from a few police personnel”.

“If BJP returns to power for the third consecutive term, the nation would face an autocratic rule. I am apprehensive that they (BJP) could hold the Lok Sabha elections in December 2023 itself… They have already turned our country into a nation in the throes of animosity among communities. If they return to power, it will make our country a nation of hatred,” said Banjeree, who is a senior member of the opposition’s I.N.D.I.A. bloc.

Earlier, another senior member of the opposition bloc and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar made a similar claim citing efforts of the opposition camp to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly.

Commenting on Banerjee’s remark, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP said, “Anything can happen. Modi ji can have the election in December instead of May or even earlier. Anything is possible… he is always in election mode.”

Key leaders of the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bloc, which has more than two dozen parties, will gather in a luxury hotel in suburban Mumbai on August 31 and September 1 in what will be their third huddle since coming together on a common platform for the first time in June in Patna.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said Sonia Gandhi will attend the INDIA alliance’s meet in Mumbai.  He said the alliance’s official logo will be unveiled during the gathering, where opposition leaders will also discuss their agenda ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The first meeting of the bloc was held in June in Patna, while the second gathering in Bengaluru in July finalised its name — Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). The grouping has been formed with the aim of taking on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 parliamentary polls.

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