Trinamool Congress uses Delhi rout to attack BJP in Bypolls

KOLKATA: The Aam Aadmi Party’s stunning election victory in Delhi has become the biggest issue in West Bengal, where campaigning for byelections ended on Wednesday. Even though Arvind Kejriwal’s party is not a contestant, AAP’s victory may have some impact on Friday’s poll in the Bongaon Lok Sabha and Krishnagunj assembly seats in the state. For the ruling Trinamool Congress, troubled by the Saradha scam, the BJP’s rout in Delhi has come as a boon, which it has leveraged to woo voters over the past two days in Bongaon.

With the campaigning winding down on Wednesday, Trinamool heavyweights including Abhishek Banerjee and actor-turned-MP Deepak Adhikari, also known as Dev, mocked the Narendra Modi-led BJP, saying, “Modi can’t win Delhi and is dreaming of winning Bengal.” “The Delhi electorate has said, ‘Bhag, Modi, bhag!’ They have given a befitting reply to Modi’s arrogance. The BJP’s fall has started in Delhi and it will end in Bengal.

India will soon become a Modi-free country,” said Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and party MP. The Trinamool Congress had been finding it difficult to campaign in Bongaon and Krishnagunj due to the alleged involvement of many of its leaders, MPs and ministers in the Saradha scam. However, over the past two days the party has made the BJP’s poll debacle in Delhi the only issue in the campaign.

The chief minister posted four messages on micro-blogging site Twitter on Tuesday, congratulating AAP and the voters of Delhi after Kejriwal led his party to victory in 67 of the 70 assembly seats. She had urged the Delhi voters to support AAP. Although AAP is not contesting the two seats of Friday, the party has made it clear it wouldn’t want the TMC to gain from its victory in Delhi. “Our fight will not remain confined against BJP and Congress. We can’t support TMC because many of its senior leaders are deeply involved in many corrupt practices,” said Sanjoy Basu, AAP’s West Bengal coordinator