Panaji: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sushmita Dev said that the country’s opposition parties need to consider an alternative against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership before seeking votes from the public. Dev, speaking to PTI in Goa on Tuesday, claimed that Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee is emerging as an “invincible force” against Modi.
Dev also said that Trinamool has not entered the fray to cut Congress votes in the Goa Assembly elections. The Banerjee-led party will have to go to other states to expand the organisation. Voting for all 40 assembly seats in Goa is to be held on February 14. Hitting out at the Congress, Dev said there are some problems with the Sonia Gandhi-led party. “It is the oldest party, it has the strongest support base, but why does it still fail against Modi?”
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The Rajya Sabha member said, “A big question in the country is that Modi versus who? We have to answer this question. Until we answer this question, we cannot go among the people.” Dev said that there is a need to find an alternative at the national level at this time. Asked whether the Trinamool wanted to field Mamata Banerjee as its prime ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha polls, Dev said it should be a collective decision by the opposition to decide on the candidate for the post.
“When people expected Sonia Gandhi to become the Prime Minister, she had sacrificed this position for Dr. Manmohan Singh. Therefore, Mrs. Gandhi has the ability to make great sacrifices and this is her specialty. She can make such a sacrifice for anyone and in my view Mamata Banerjee is ready to emerge as a national level leader who can prove to be an invincible force against Narendra Modi.
Dev said that no one knows what will be the future of the country. “Politics is very dynamic. The idea is to save the nation, this idea binds all those parties which are not from the background of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He also emphasized that Trinamool is not in the fray to cut Congress votes in Goa.
Dev said, “If you keep on giving this argument, no new party will be able to come out of its state. If you keep telling new parties that you have come to cut votes, it means that no other party should come for the next 100 years. Today, for the expansion of Trinamool, we have to go to other states.”
In the 2017 Assembly elections in Goa, the Congress emerged as the single largest party winning 17 out of 40 seats. However, the BJP immediately formed its government in the coastal state with the help of other regional parties and some independent winning candidates. Now only two members of Congress are left in the Goa Legislative Assembly. (agency)