BJP played dirty politics, Bengal saved the country

Kolkata: Calling TMC's win a 'victory for the people' of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said that she was proud to say that the people of her State have "saved the country". Banerjee is likely to return as the Chief Minister for a third consecutive term, with her party all set to win big in Bengal. The TMC is leading in over 200 seats now. Speaking to the press in Kolkata, she said, "This is a victory for the people of Bengal. I am proud to say that Bengal saved the country."

"The Election Commission behaved badly with us — they behaved like BJP's spokesperson. Two slogans — 'Khela hobe' and 'Joy Bangla' — worked well for us. Bengal won the match. We will distribute 50,000 footballs among clubs in rural Bengal."

Speaking about Nandigram where she contested against her protégé-turned-BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Banerjee said, "Don't worry about Nandigram. For struggle you have to sacrifice something.

I struggled for Nandigram because I fought a movement. It's okay. Let the people give whatever verdict they want, I accept that. I don't mind. We will review the results and go to court if required. I have information that after the declaration of results, there were some manipulations done and I will reveal those. But we won more than 221 seats and BJP has lost the election."

The official figures for Nandigram are yet to come in, with the last update on the Election Commission website showing that Adhikari is leading by over 10,000 votes.

She added, "We appeal to everyone not to do a victory rally now. But this will be after Covid is defeated. We will do a big victory rally at the Brigade Parade Ground later after the situation is normal."