Trinamool Congress general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday took a slightly different stance than his aunt and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee regarding the role of Congress in the recent Delhi assembly polls that saw the BJP thumping the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
During his visit to a Sebaashray health camp in South 24 Parganas district's Satgachia, part of Diamond Harbour constituency, he was asked if the BJP could have been defeated if AAP and Congress had been in alliance. Downplaying its impact, Mr. Banerjee said, “At best, [results in] four or five seats would have been different."
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee interacted with locals in Sebasray camp at Satgachia | Salil Bera
He added, “People in Delhi felt that a change was necessary. Even if you don’t like it, you have to respect the mandate of people in a democracy. They [People in democracy] are never wrong. Perhaps you tried to reach out to them but could not convince them successfully.”
Earlier this week, CM Banerjee had reportedly pointed out that the BJP won the Delhi elections by a small percentage of votes. She remarked that this could have been avoided if the Congress had been more flexible and formed an alliance with AAP.
The Trinamool supremo had also criticised the Arvind Kejriwal-led party’s approach in Haryana, arguing that collaboration with Congress could have changed the outcome, given that Congress won 37 seats to BJP’s 48 in the 90-seat Haryana assembly.
Meanwhile, Abhishek Banerjee further stated that the BJP’s campaign against AAP was successful because Kejriwal’s party failed to present a counter-narrative to the public. “The BJP is skilled at spreading false propaganda,” he remarked. But AAP could not effectively communicate to people its counter-narrative that the BJP did not let an elected government work.”
He also accused the BJP-led central government of disempowering the AAP government through the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Ordinance, 2023. Additionally, he claimed that the arrests of former chief minister and deputy chief minister and other cabinet ministers had tied the hands of the AAP-led Delhi government.
