BJP already morally defeated in Gujarat: Mamata

Kolkata, Nov 8 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the BJP was already "morally defeated" in Gujarat even before the actual elections.

Addressing the media here, Banerjee questioned why the Prime Minister, all other ministers, and top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, as also all frontal organisations of the Sangh Parivar had plunged headlong into the Gujarat poll campaign, if the state government there has done "so much work as they claim".

The BJP has been in power in Gujarat over the past 22 years.

"If they have done so much work, why are they fielding everybody in the campaign - the Prime Minister himself, all other ministers, RSS (Rashtryia Swayamsevak Sangh) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and all other agencies What are they all doing there?

"Mentally they feel threatened, that they may lose the polls. They are already morally defeated in Gujarat," said Banerjee.

The Trinamool Congress chief claimed that people in Gujarat were "very unhappy" with the state government, and the Central Government's steps like demonetisation and the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"In Surat alone, one lakh people have become jobless due to demoentisation. Dalits, minorities, Patels - all have faced atrocities."

In an indirect reference to the Congress, Banerjee said those taking on the BJP in the western state "have our moral support".

Asked whether she would campaign in Gujarat, she said it would be decided later.

The two-phase assembly elections in the state are slated to be held on December 9 and 18.