Suvendu will lose by over 50,000 votes in any seat he contests in Medinipur: Abhishek

Lashing out at BJP leaderSuvendu Adhikari, Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee onSaturday said that the former West Bengal minister will loseby over 50,000 votes in any seat he contests in his home turfMedinipur.

Addressing a public meeting around 5 km from Adhikarifamily residence 'Shantikunj' here, the TMC youth wing chiefcontested claims that Purba Medinipur district is theAdhikaris' fortress and asserted that the BJP will lose theupcoming assembly elections due in April-May.

''West Bengal will re-elect Mamata Banerjee as thechief minister for the third time with the TMC winning morethan 250 seats and trouncing the BJP,'' he said.

On the BJP's claims that the chief minister hasn'tvisited Nandigram in five years, Banerjee questioned how manytimes did Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home MinisterAmit Shah come to Medinipur during that period.

''He (Modi) is coming to Haldia tomorrow due to theupcoming elections,'' Banerjee said.

The prime minister will visit Haldia in PurbaMedinipur district on Sunday to inaugurate severalinfrastructure projects in the oil and gas sector.

''This year's assembly elections are more important forthe people of Purba Medinipur because the chief minister ofthe state will be elected from this district. Mamata Banerjeewill fight the elections from Nandigram,'' he said.

''He (Adhikari) is claiming that Mamata Banerjee willbe defeated by over half lakh votes but why are you not askingyour party to make you, Suvendu Adhikari, a candidate fromhere on a BJP ticket to fight against her,'' Banerjee said,asserting that he will be vanquished.

The Diamond Harbour MP said that he will come to Purbaand Paschim Medinipur districts over 50 times in the next twomonths and ensure that the deposits of BJP candidates areforfeited in the assembly elections.

''After three months of forming the government, I takethe responsibility to make them (BJP) politically bankrupt,''Banerjee, nephew of the chief minister, said.

He claimed that those who have insulted the land ofMatangini Hazra, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Sushil Dhara bydeserting the TMC will get the reply from the people in theelections.

Following the footsteps of Suvendu Adhikari, hisyounger brother Soumendu, a former chairman of KanthiMunicipality, has left the TMC to join the saffron party.

His father Sisir Adhikari and another brother Dibyenduare TMC's Lok Sabha MPs.

Taking a swipe at Suvendu Adhikari, a former ministerin the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, for joining the BJP in thepresence of Shah, Banerjee said that he has touched the feetof the man during whose rally Vidyasagar's statue wasvandalised.

The statue of the social reformer and educationist, anicon of Bengal, was vandalised during Shah's rally in Kolkatain the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, with the TMC and BJPpointing fingers at each other for the desecration.

Banerjee claimed that Jan Sangh founder Syama PrasadMukerjee had opposed the Quit India movement and that he hadsided with the British imperialists.

He alleged that the CBI and ED are the two engines ofthe BJP's double-engine government.

One of the election planks of the BJP is that thegovernments of the same party at the Centre and in the statewill ensure better development of West Bengal.