Mamata Banerjee only leader in India who can take on BJP: Akhilesh Yadav

Kolkata, Jan 27 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the only political leader in the entire country who has the courage and capability to take on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, said Samajwadi Party (SP) President and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav here on Tuesday.

He arrived in Kolkata on Monday night to attend a family function. On Tuesday afternoon, he reached the West Bengal state secretariat of Nabanna and had a meeting with Mamata Banerjee.

After the meeting, Yadav said at a press conference that in the West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled later this year, it would be proved again that Mamata Banerjee was the only leader in the country capable of taking on the might of the BJP.

“In the entire country, only Mamata Banerjee is countering the BJP in the right manner. It is just a matter of time that BJP faces a landslide defeat in West Bengal. The Enforcement Directorate had lost to Mamata Banerjee. It will be time now for the BJP to accept that defeat. Again, I am saying that Mamata Banerjee is the only leader in the country who is countering the BJP in the right manner,” the SP chief said.

He also echoed Mamata Banerjee’s die-hard opposition to the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) in the state.

“SIR is a reflection of the BJP’s fear of defeat. That is why the only target of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is to delete genuine voters from the list in the name of SIR. The Commission is acting as the agent of the BJP. But such conspiracies would not work out. It is a matter of time that Mamata Banerjee will become the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the fourth consecutive term,” he added.

Political observers feel that by describing Mamata Banerjee as the only leader in the country having the courage and capability to counter the BJP, Yadav has actually given a signal to Congress that the leadership of the country’s oldest national party should refrain from its “big-brotherly’ attitude in the opposition INDIA block.”

“In fact, both Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav, in the past, had differences with Congress on many issues, and both have accused Congress of being high-handed in managing affairs in the opposition block. On Tuesday, Yadav again indirectly raised the same matter,” said a city-based political observer.

–IANS

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