Akhilesh Yadav Was Made To Lose, Shouldn’t Be Depressed”: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday cast a shadow of doubt over the BJP’s record win in Uttar Pradesh, along with those in other states, saying it wasn’t a popular mandate but a victory with the help of “election machinery and central forces and agencies”.

She also said there was no point in counting on the Congress to defeat the BJP in 2024, reviving the pitch for a united coalition of opposition parties a day after state election results gave the ruling party at the centre a massive boost.

“Through the use of election machinery and central forces and agencies they (BJP) have won and few states and now they are jumping around. They play a kettle drum but they cannot make music. For music, you need a harmonium,” she said at a news briefing in Kolkata.

“If a DM (Varanasi’s Additional District Magistrate) is suspended is for removing an EVM (Electronic Voting Machine), then it is a huge thing. I feel Akhilesh [Yadav] has been made to lose. There was loot. Akhilesh should not be depressed and upset. He should go to the people and challenge this,” Ms Banerjee added, referring to the controversy surrounding the videos of EVMs flagged by the Samajwadi Party.