Whoever fights as BJP candidate from Nandigram Mamata will be defeated Suvendu

    Chandannagar (WB), Jan 20 (PTI) BJP leader Suvendu
Adhikari said on Wednesday that whoever contests as a BJP
candidate from Nandigram in the West Bengal assembly
elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be defeated by
at least 50,000 votes.
    Leading a roadshow in Chandannagar in Hooghly,
Adhikari apologised to the people of the district for the
movement against farmland acquisition in Singur, which forced
Tata Motors to scrap the plan of an automobile hub.
    He said the earlier Left Front government was much
better than the present Trinamool Congress regime in several
measures, including in creating employment opportunities.
    "I don't know who will be fielded by BJP from
Nandigram. It can be me or someone else. But, whoever contests
as a BJP candidate from Nandigram, she (Mamata Banerjee) will
be defeated by at least 50,000 votes," Adhikari said.
    On Monday, Banerjee announced that she will contest
the upcoming assembly elections from Nandigram, taking the
fight to the home turf of Adhikari who left her party to join
the BJP last month.
    Adhikari, who won the election from Nandigram as the
TMC candidate in 2016, had accepted the challenge and
announced hours later that if the BJP fields him against the
chief minister he will defeat her or quit politics.
    At the roadshow, he also apologised with his hands
folded to the people of the district and said that Banerjee
spelt doom for Singur with the land movement in the late
2000s.
    "I feel sorry for the unemployed youths in the
district and the state. Sorry for being a part of that
movement. Actually, others are lampposts in her party, while
she is the only one having an actual post and taking
decisions. Others like us had to put leucoplast on our
mouths," he said.
    Reacting to the comments, CPI(M) leader Sujan
Chakraborty said, "What about the Nandigram movement? Will he
apologise for being a part of that as well? His comments show
how TMC and BJP don't have any principles."
    TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "After all these
years, Suvendu is disowning his involvement in TMC's Singur
movement, of which he was a part. Will he now disown the
Nandigram movement? This shows his opportunism."
    Earlier, BJP's national vice president Mukul Roy
termed the land movement in Singur a blunder and said that it
dealt a big blow to Bengal's industrialisation bid.
    Addressing a rally following the roadshow, Adhikari
said that those having self-respect should leave the Trinamool
Congress and join the BJP.
    "If you don't want to remain as servants, if you want
to have an identity, come and join the BJP," he said.
    Adhikari also took a dig at Banerjee for reacting to
the chanting of "Jai Shri Ram" after getting down from her car
ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
    "How can she speak against Jai Shri Ram which is our
emotion?" he asked
    Continuing his tirade against Banerjee, Adhikari said
former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is a good man
and the Left Front regime was better than that of the
Trinamool Congress.
    "The number of unemployed youth has reached an all-
time high of 2 crore as the present government is not
conducting competitive exams such as the SSC for six years.
SSC exams were held annually during the CPI(M)'s rule," he
said.
    "I am urging those who are walking in CPI(M) rallies
with their flags to join the BJP to stop the TMC from turning
Bengal into a graveyard," he added.
    Adhikari claimed that poll strategist Prashant Kishor
has said in a recent interview that TMC has a "fixed deposit
of 30 per cent electorate" while BJP has to work on the rest
70 per cent. "Now which one is higher?"
    "After losing 18 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, she
(Mamata Banerjee) has hired PK (Kishor) in a Rs 400-crore
contract. And now she is set to see her party decimate
entirely," he said.
    The BJP leader said that there should be the same
party's government at the Centre and in the state, he said.
    Hooghly MP Locket Chatterjee and Rajya Sabha MP Swapan
Dasgupta were also present in the roadshow. PTI SUS
SOM SOM

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)