Kolkata: While breaking her silence on the Election Commission’s (EC) notice to the Trinamool Congress regarding its ‘national party’ status, West Bengal Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee said she had already managed to achieve ‘international status’ with her hard work.
Addressing a mega rally to mark ‘Shahid Diwas’ (Martyr’s Day) in the heart of the city on Sunday, Banerjee said, “As per EC norms (amended in 2016), it can review the status every 10 years. However, suddenly it sent us a letter. I would like to tell the poll panel that Trinamool Congress will not beg before it. The TMC is here not because of the EC's mercy.”
“Despite being in the region, we managed to earn global attention. We don’t care about the ‘national party’ status,” she said.
Recently, the EC has issued notices to three political parties, including the TMC, Communist Party of India (CPI) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), seeking reply from them on why their recognition as a national party should not be withdrawn after they failed to fulfil the criteria required for the recognition.
Speaking to News18, Sheyphali B Sharan, ADG and media-in-charge at EC, had confirmed sending letters.
Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Banerjee further told the gathering, “You know they (BJP leaders) don’t like the TMC. They are angry with us. You know why. Because, the TMC is a party of poor people, it is a party of labourers, it is a party of farmers and it is the party of ‘kalo, kalo’ (dusky looking) people from villages.”
She also spoke about the pre-poll violence at a city college where a bust of social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was vandalised. “I warned that if you (the BJP) touch Rabindranath Tagore, Subhash Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda or Nazrul, we will (be compelled to) cross the line,” Banerjee said.
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