Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that the Trinamool Congress would win the 2021 Assembly elections, showing the way ahead to the people of Bengal.
Launching a pointed attack at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for welcoming Trinamool renegades, the CM said: "You can buy a few MLAs, but you cannot buy Trinamool Congress. The defections will not impact the party at all as the people are with us."
Banerjee held a party meeting at Jambuni ground in Bolpur before holding a mega roadshow on Tuesday.
She said that outsiders are coming to Bengal and insulting the life's philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul Islam.
"Conspiracies are being hatched to destroy the culture of Bengal. I genuinely feel bad when I see efforts being made to pursue communal politics at Visva Bharati," she said, urging people to stop the politics of violence and divisive tactics.
"These people don't know about the Bengali icons but are still commenting on them. BJP All-India President J P Nadda said Rabindranath was born in Santiniketan. It is an insult to Gurudev as Rabindranath had established Santiniketan 60 years after his birth," the CM said.
Taking potshots at the BJP, the Trinamool Congress supremo said that those who don't respect Mahatma Gandhi and other icons of the country are talking of 'Sonar Bangla' (Golden Bengal).
"Rabindranath Tagore has already created 'Sonar Bangla' several decades ago, all we need to do is to protect the place from the communal onslaught of the BJP," Banerjee said.
Meanwhile, Basudev baul, who had lunch with Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to Bolpur, was seen on the stage on Tuesday and sang at the rally.