Kolkata: Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, on Friday, described the Supreme Court’s verdict in the case of ruling party’s uncontested win in more than one third of the panchayat elections seats as “people’s victory”.
Hours after the judgment she told the media at state secretariat Nabanna, “You have seen the nexus of the trio: CPI(M), BJP and Congress during the panchayat elections. We called these three musketeers as Jogai, Madhai and Vidaai. They had not only dishonoured Bengal in a planned way but also belittled Bengal’s prestige. They spread canards and falsehood continously and hatched conspiracy for their political interests. The court’s verdict has proved it. I think this victory is the people’s victory. In the panchayat polls voting recorded more than 70 per cent. In zilla parishad seats where polling was done nearly 84 per cent, our party won there also.”
Claiming that even the Trinamul was not allowed to contest the rural polls in many parts of the state Ms Banerjee alleged, “In many villages the local people decide who should be allowed to contest or not. Despite being a ruling party we do not have any seat in Belpahari.”
The SC’s verdict has also come as a shot in the arm for the Trinamul ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Welcoming the judgement senior leaders of the ruling party declared that they would reach out to the people with the verdict.
Trinamul secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, “We welcome the much awaited verdict by the SC in the Panchayat polls. This verdict proves that it is a victory of democracy. It is a win of Maa Maati Manush. It is also a victory against the attempt by our opposition combine of CPI(M) and BJP to stall the development in our state. After this verdict the flow of development undertaken by the chief minister will only expand.”
Senior Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said, “The SC is the protector of the Indian constitution and law. It has performed its role indeed. We are very happy with the judgement. In the coming LS polls we will reach out to the people of West Bengal with this verdict to show them how a conspiracy was hatched but how it was resisted also. The opposition is trying to send a wrong message to the people of the state and the country on the basis of falsehood that everything is not well in the state.”
According to him, “But the real picture is that the opposition tried to demolish the panchayat system in the state because the amount welfare schemes the chief minister has undertaken in the rural parts had left them panicked. They felt that if they could not win the ruling bodies in the villages, they would not be able to win either the Assembly or LS polls. The people of the state have rejected them.”
Mr Roy added, “Each and every election results have been showing how the CPI(M), Congress and BJP have been rejected. That is why they plotted the conspiracy to drag the Mamata Banerjee government in a false case to create a hype against it.” Bantering the opposition another Trinamul MP and lawyer Kalyan Banerjee said, “Elections can not be won through legal battle.”
