"Until TMC understands its mistakes, it can't revive party": BJP's RS bypoll candidate Sushmita Dev

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], July 10 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajya Sabha bypoll candidate and former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sushmita Dev on Friday said the opposition party in Bengal would not be able to revive itself unless it introspected and acknowledged its mistakes.
Speaking to ANI, Dev said the TMC owed an explanation for not actively campaigning in the Falta bypoll despite demanding that elected representatives who switch parties resign and seek a fresh mandate.
"In the past, Falta gave votes in abundance to Trinamool. Today, there is a fight between two sides over the party symbol 'Flowers and Grass'. The TMC candidate who used to refer to himself as 'Pushpa' ran away, but the party symbol was on the EVM. Congress, CPM, and Suvendu - all went to Falta. But it was one party from which none of the leaders went to Falta. The answer to this needs to be given by them," Dev added.
She also questioned the absence of its senior leaders during the Falta Assembly bypoll campaign and asked the TMC to answer why it didn't go to Falta for the bypoll.
"You are asking the Lok Sabha MPs to resign and face a by-election, but TMC needs to answer why it didn't go to Falta for the bypoll? If there is a bypoll on 20 seats tomorrow, will any of the TMC leaders go to those constituencies? I believe until you (TMC) understand your mistakes, you cannot revive this party," she added.
The bypolls will be held on July 24, with counting of votes on the same day, after the seats fell vacant following the resignations of the three former TMC leaders last month. Three prominent TMC former Rajya Sabha MPs, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik, defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The leaders were formally inducted at the BJP's state headquarters in the presence of West Bengal BJP President Samik Bhattacharya and other senior party officials. Within hours of induction into the party, the BJP fielded them for the upcoming Rajya Sabha bypolls in West Bengal.
Defending her decision to join the BJP and contest the Rajya Sabha bypoll as the party's candidate, Dev said she had followed the principle that the TMC itself had earlier advocated.
"The TMC had said that if you take a principled decision, then you should resign and get re-elected. And that's exactly what happened. You were saying one thing 15 days ago and saying something else today. I don't need a certificate from anyone," she said.
Reacting to TMC MP Sougata Roy's remarks, Dev alleged that the opposition party's own campaign narrative during the elections had weakened public confidence in its ability to govern.
"During the elections in Bengal, TMC said that development is not happening in the State because the state doesn't get money from the Central government. The message which went out to the public was that development cannot happen in West Bengal under TMC's leadership. People felt that if border fencing needs to be done, industries need to be brought in, TMC cannot do it. TMC's message backfired on them," she said.
Commenting on the split in the Trinamool Congress, Dev said that former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remained the party's only mass leader.
"The question is - who is a mass leader among those leaders who are with Didi today? Everyone agrees, and history is evidence that Didi is a mass leader. But what is the mass following of the leaders who are with Didi now? These leaders themselves say that they are like rubberstamps and people vote for Didi. Are these people mass leaders? This is where the problem lies," she said.
Drawing a comparison with the BJP's growth in West Bengal, Dev said leaders such as Suvendu Adhikari and Samik Bhattacharya had built support at the grassroots level.
"The way the BJP has risen in Bengal, Suvendu da and Samik da are grassroots leaders. It doesn't matter if a party is defeated in elections. BJP has lost many elections after Independence. What matters is which party has acceptance at the grassroots level," she added. (ANI)