'Lost your magic, credibility': Mamata hits out at PM, calls for his resignation

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee launched a pointed attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday saying that the people of India have rejected his leadership, because of which the BJP failed to win a majority on its own.

"Modi has broken many parties and now the people have broken his morale. Modi should resign on moral grounds. The Union home minister (Amit Shah) should also resign," she said.

Banerjee addressed the media on Tuesday evening after it was evident that her party was on the way to winning 29 seats from West Bengal, up from the 2019 tally of 22 seats.

"Aap ka magic gya (your magic is gone). You have lost credibility. We want you to resign," she said.

"I will certainly help the INDIA team. I had discussions with some people. I am into politics from my childhood and I have many friends. I will try to see Modi is out and INDIA is in. INDIA has got enough votes and it has the capacity," she said.

The BJP hit back hard. "Mamata Banerjee had lost her election in Nandigram to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari. Yet, she continued as the Chief Minister of Bengal. She should be the last person to pontificate on 'credibility'," Amit Malviya, BJP's IT cell chief, wrote on X.

The TMC supremo, while speaking to the media, spoke about the factors that helped her party to counter the BJP bandwagon in the state.

"West Bengal was the most tortured state. Atrocities were the worst on West Bengal. On the one hand, there was the CBI, ED, and IT. And a section of the media also worked against us," she said.

"I want the Centre to clear the dues of every state. They should restart the central schemes which they had stopped. They should stop using the central agencies and manipulating the judiciary. If they don't stop there would be a huge movement. They were not allowed to enter Haryana due to protests. Similarly, they may not be allowed to enter Parliament," she added.

Political experts said that the TMC government's schemes such as the Lakshmir Bhandar, launched just ahead of the 2021 assembly polls to provide financial assistance to women, not only earned the party rich dividends in the assembly but also in the Lok Sabha elections. The assistance was increased from ₹500 to ₹1,000 per month just ahead of the polls.

"The TMC's main support base are the women for whom the government has floated a series of schemes including financial assistance. These schemes include women and girls of all ages starting from a schoolgirl to a senior citizen. There are special schemes for widows," said a TMC woman minister.

The unrest in Sandeshkhali in February this year with women demanding the arrest of TMC strongmen over allegations of sexual assault had forced the party to go into defensive mode. But in May, however, the party released a purported sting video in which a BJP leader could be allegedly seen saying that the entire episode was orchestrated by his party and women were paid to file fake complaints of rape. That turned the tables in the TMC's favour, political observers said.