BJP will draw a blank in Bengal: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata, April 19 (IANS) Taking a jibe at Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for his comments that the Northeast, Bengal and Odisha would be the surprises in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in for a "surprise" as it will secure a "rosogolla" (zero) from her state.

She also doubted if the saffron party would get even 13 seats in Uttar Pradesh and claimed that the BJP would not cross 100 seats across India.

"The Finance Minister (Jaitley) said Bengal and Odisha would be the surprises. I say that they (BJP) will have a surprise by getting a 'rosogolla' and 'rajbhog' (round sweets resembling zero) in Bengal," Banerjee said while addressing a rally in Balurghat.

Jaitley had on Thursday tweeted: "Northeast, Bengal and Odisha will be the biggest surprises of this Lok Sabha election."

The BJP currently has two MPs in Bengal -- S.S. Ahluwalia from Darjeeling and Babul Supriyo from Asansol.

Referring to Jaitley as the "kettle finance minister" of the "Chaiwala Prime Minister's government," Banerjee said: "What have they done for Bengal? Why will people vote for them? They have done nothing."

The Trinamool supremo also claimed that the BJP would not get a single seat in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

"In Uttar Pradesh, they (BJP) got 73 seats in 2014. I doubt whether they will get even 13 seats this time. Wherefrom will they get the numbers to form the government? The BJP will not even surpass 100 seats across the country," she said while addressing a rally at Gangarampur later in the day.

In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Banerjee alleged that there is "a leader in the BJP, who has made film and merchandise in his name" for publicity.

"Only making shoes in his name is left so that he can move around the world," she said, adding that no one will have any rights left if the BJP is voted back to power.

Describing Modi and BJP President Amit Shah as seasonal birds, she said the two were "misleading the people of Bengal by uttering lies".

Banerjee also accused the BJP of "distributing money among many people in the border areas to buy their votes."