West Bengal CM Adhikari claims BJP can muster support of 275 MLAs in floor test
West Bengal chief minister says 64 MLAs elected on TMC tickets would back the BJP, as the opposition party grapples with a split following its electoral defeat
Kolkata, Oct 21 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday asserted that the ruling BJP would win the support of 275 MLAs in the 294-member assembly if a floor test is held.
He claimed that 64 MLAs who won on TMC tickets would support the BJP.
"BJP did not win because of social media or television talk shows. I defeated (former CM) Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur. (BJP MLA) Sajal Ghosh did not win because of social media. Ours is a Sanatani government elected by people," he told reporters on the sidelines of his visit to the house of one of the Chorbagan stampede victims.
Nineteen people were killed and 25 injured in a stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on October 17.
"Let there be a floor test in the assembly tomorrow... our numbers would reach 275," he added.
Attacking the previous Left Front and TMC regimes, he said, "The dirt accumulated over the last 49 years is being cleaned up by our government over the last six months."
"The Mamata AITC will end up losing its identity, numbers and flag as they don't have any public support in the state," he claimed.
The BJP won 208 seats in the assembly elections held in April this year, dislodging the Trinamool Congress from power after its 15 years of uninterrupted rule.
The TMC, which had ended the 34-year rule of the CPI(M)-led Left Front in 2011, could bag only 80 seats in this year's polls.
The TMC witnessed a vertical split after this year's assembly elections, with a faction led by Arup Roy and Ritabrata Banerjee rebelling against the party, and staking claim to the name and 'two flowers and grass' party symbol.
Ritabrata became the leader of the opposition in the state assembly after over two-thirds of the winning TMC MLAs extended support to him.
The EC awarded the name 'Democratic Trinamool Congress' to the rebel faction, while the Mamata Banerjee faction got the name 'Mamata All India Trinamool Congress'.
A majority of the TMC MPs in Lok Sabha merged with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India, and extended support to the ruling NDA. PTI