‘Sarkar Badal Do’: Mamata Concludes United India Rally With a Roar

At the Kolkata Mega rally, Mamata said the BJP’s expiry date is over and it is time for a new govt at the Centre.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

(Photo: AP)

Video editor: Vivek Gupta
Video Producer: Hera Khan

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee concluded the mega Opposition rally in Kolkata’s Brigade on 19 January with chants of “Badal do, badal do, Dilli mein sarkar badal do" (change the government at the Centre).

Launching a scathing attack against the BJP government, the TMC supremo said, “Modi government is past its expiry date and in the coming days, a new dawn will descend. We will work together and it's a promise.”

Calling all Opposition leaders to unite against the Modi government, whom she accused of destroying the country’s institutions, Banerjee said the question of who will become the PM will arise after winning the upcoming general elections.

“Everyone has to come together. Collective leadership is very important. Modi asks who is going to be our leader. We have several leaders – everybody is a leader, everyone is an organiser in our alliance.”

Mamata Banerjee

Slamming Narendra Modi government for “ignoring” the senior leaders of BJP, Mamata said, “Has BJP given respect to Shatrughan Sinha, Yashwant Sinha or Arun Shourie? In fact, have they given respect to Rajnath, Sushma or Gadkari? Once the elections are over, they will be ignored again.”

More than 20 national leaders, including former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, his son and Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah, Sharad Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Hemant Soren, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang, reached Kolkata on Friday to take part in the rally.