Noting that he was seeing an electoral Tsunami in West Bengal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the entire scene in Bengal would change by the time elections are held in the state next year and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be left alone.
Amit Shah made the remarks at a rally in Paschim Medinipur in which nine MLAs apart from former minister Suvendu Adhikari joined the BJP. An MP and a former MP also joined the BJP.
Shah's two-day visit to West Bengal began on Saturday.
"The Tsunami I am seeing in Bengal today, I must say that this is something that Mamata Banerjee would not have thought this would happen. By the time the elections come, the entire scene in Bengal would change. Didi, watch out," he said.
"You (Mamata Banerjee) will be left alone by the time polls come," he added.
Adhikari has submitted his resignation as MLA though it has not been accepted yet on technical grounds. The other MLAs who joined the BJP in the presence of Amit Shah include five from Trinamool Congress and four from Congress and Left parties.
TMC MP from Purba Burdwan Sunil Mondal and former MP Dasarath Tirkey also joined BJP in the presence of Shah here.
Shah said the BJP will form the government by winning over 200 seats in the 294 member assembly.
"When results of assembly elections are declared, BJP will form the government with more than 200 seats. Didi (Mamata Banerjee) keeps saying that BJP makes people switch parties. I want to ask her, was Trinamool Congress (TMC) her original party? Was she not in the Congress? Did she not switch to TMC when she had differences? Today when Suvendu Adhikari has done the same, you find that wrong."
He said Mamata Banerjee wants her nephew to be the next chief minister of the state.
"Mamata Banerjee is busy trying to ensure nephew becomes next Chief Minister. You gave three decades to Congress, 27 years to Communists and 10 years to Mamata didi, give five years to BJP, we will make Bengal Sonar Bangla," Shah said.
Earlier in the day, Shah paid tributes to the Swami Vivekananda during a visit to the Ramakrishna Mission, saying that Vivekananda was a "great son of mother India" who devoted his life to national resurgence.
The minister will visit Vishwa Bharti University at Shantiniketan in Birbhum district on Sunday where he will pay tributes to Rabindranath Tagore followed by an interaction with media.
The minister is also scheduled to visit Shyambati in Birbhum, where he will have lunch with the family of a Baul singer. Besides, he will hold a roadshow in Bolpur from Hanuman mandir on Stadium Road to Bolpur Circle.
( With inputs from ANI )
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