BJP will lose Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan: Mamata Banerjee

Purulia, West Bengal: A day before assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Mamata Banerjee predicted that BJP's 15-year rule in the state would come undone. The West Bengal chief minister also said that the party would lose Rajasthan, a state which votes on December 7.

Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are traditional strongholds for BJP. Assembly elections here, as well as in Chhattisgarh where voting in two phases is already over, could have political ramifications ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections next year. And with battle lines being drawn, Mamata took a jibe at PM Narendra Modi and said people are scared of the person ruling the country. "Have you seen their (BJP) condition in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan? They will go from these states," said the TMC supremo at a Hindibhasi Sammelan.

Asking people to support her, Mamata also predicted that bigger political changes are around the corner. "Things will change in Delhi. There will be happiness on the faces of people," she said.

Mamata in the past, however, has denied that she has any prime ministerial ambitions and instead, wants to see BJP's fall at the Centre. What may be a source of concern though is that BJP is looking to make in-roads in West Bengal. Tuesday's event where Mamata slammed BJP was in Purulia, a district where BJP has managed to dent TMC's vote bank. Little wonder then that she drew comparisons between her government and BJP state governments elsewhere. "Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh still have Maoist problems but we have solved it in Bengal," she claimed. "Has central government given two offs for Chhath? No, but I did."

Elections in West Bengal are not due till 2020 but Mamata vs BJP tussle, in all probabilities, is likely to only intensify in the time to come.