Subramanian Swamy: Mamata Banerjee, A Brave Woman, Deserves To Be Prime Minister

Subramanian Swamy, a prominent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member and former Union minister, praised Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, on Tuesday, saying she should have been India’s Prime Minister.

Swamy, known for his harsh criticism of Narendra Modi, emphasized the importance of a robust opposition and struck out at the “creeping fascism” in which the media is browbeaten. He bemoaned the plight of the media in Modi’s “New India.”

The former Union Minister also revealed several extreme Hindutva ideas and harshly critiqued Congress politicians Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. Subramanian Swamy stated that Mamata Banerjee is someone who cannot be blackmailed. He disclosed that he met with Mamata Banerjee, who vowed ‘jihad’ against the BJP, to discuss the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The 83-year-old politician-economist, who is an outspoken Hindu nationalist, was in town for a freewheeling chat at an event hosted by Ficci FLO, Kolkata. He was compelled to pause in front of 230 people, the majority of whom were women, at a hotel in Kolkata.

“Mamata Banerjee must become India’s Prime Minister. She is a strong woman. Consider how she fought communism for 34 years. Look at what she’s doing currently. I believe the country requires a genuine opposition that cannot be intimidated by those in power,” the BJP leader stated.

During the event in Kolkata, he spoke with novelist and journalist Kaveree Bamzai. “I see women revolting against a woman,” a little surprised Swamy said. He persevered, despite the criticism of many in the audience.

“I’ve met a lot of individuals today. They are unlikely to expand past a certain degree in their opposition to the current government. Because they are concerned that ED or something similar will appear. That is detrimental to Indian democratic rule,” the BJP leader warned.

“I’m in contact with Mamata. I met her approximately ten days prior, but no one knows. The discussion was around what 2024 could look like, how economic conditions should be,” Swamy explained. He emphasised the necessity of the country having a true opposition.

The former legislator further stated that India requires an opposition that is “not an ally” of the governing party. “There are many individuals like that. Some do it loudly, while others do it discreetly,” he explained. Swamy further claimed it is “practically impossible to intimidate” Mamata Banerjee.

Swamy said that he was confident the BJP would keep the presidency in 2024. He was not as certain about Modi staying Prime Minister, and that the outcome of Assembly elections in several states would determine a lot.

Swamy went on to say that Mamata Banerjee is the sole woman politician who’s got the courage to stand up, in response to a question about who he believes is India’s most powerful woman leader. Swamy further stated that there was a period when Jayalalitha may have been, and then there was a time when Mayawati was considered.

In the current scenario, Swamy believes that Banerjee is the most powerful woman within the nation because “she is not complicit” and it is “impossible to blackmail her.” This is not the first time Subramaniam Swamy has lavished accolades on the TMC leader. Swamy praised Mamata Banerjee, comparing her to Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, PV Narasimha Rao, and Rajiv Gandhi in 2021.

He mentioned that of all the politicians he met or worked with, Mamata Banerjee ranks alongside JP, Chandrashekhar, and Narasimha Rao in terms of saying what they meant. He considered it a rare quality in Indian politics in a series of tweets back in 2021.

Furthermore, Swamy, who refers to himself as a “Virat Hindu,” visited the West Bengal Chief Minister in Kolkata last year, even though several Hindus were slain in the region in post-election violence in 2021. Swamy had visited Banerjee at the state secretariat in Kolkata in August 2022 and shared a photo taken with her. Following their encounter, speculation regarding his political move was widespread back then.

Swamy has frequently criticized the central government on social media on a variety of matters ranging from economics to foreign policy. Banerjee met Swamy in Delhi in November 2021, which aroused similar conjecture.

Swamy then made a brimming statement, claiming that there is no reason for him to join the TMC because he is already associated with the West Bengal CM. According to certain sources, Swamy at that time was “upset” about being denied a position among the Union cabinet members. He was also removed from the BJP’s national working committee, which prompted him to voice his unhappiness.

“Today, the state of the press is pitiful. Every day, they are asked by one assistant joint secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office why they published this, and why they showed that. They have threatened to remove all government advertisements” explained Swamy.

When asked about the role of the Modi administration in the recent Adani catastrophe, he stated, “There is only one proper way to deal with the Adani matter, which is by the Prime Minister of India quitting his post.” Adani could not have done a thing without Modi’s approval, Swamy remarked.

Swamy slammed Modi for supposedly taking all the praise for Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir, saying, “He did nothing to deserve all the credit. This hunger for power is not Hindu. I now compare Modi to Ravan”. He said that Hinduism is known to be the world’s longest-surviving religion now. One has a broad outlook with that.”

The Supreme Court decided in March 2023 to hear a petition filed by Subramanian Swamy asking the Centre to proclaim the Ram Sethu a national historic monument. He said in December 2022 that the Congress made a mistake by electing Sonia Gandhi to take charge of the party.

In September 2022, Swamy stated, “Special temples need to be emptied and reconstructed because they were intentionally demolished by Aurangzeb and Muhammad Ghori.”

In July 2022 Swamy said on Twitter that he intended to sue Akshay and the film’s producers for ‘falsification in the depiction of the Ram Setu dispute’ in their upcoming film.

Binoy Viswam, a Rajya Sabha member and CPI leader, had moved the Supreme Court in September 2022 to oppose Subramanian Swamy’s petition to remove the words “socialist” and “secular” from the Indian Constitution’s Preamble.

The West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee banned the controversial film “The Kerala Story” due to the risk of causing a disturbance. She has also claimed that the BJP is “financing a Bengal-themed film along the lines of Kashmir Files.”

On Tuesday, filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri said that he had sent Mamata Banerjee a court notice for defaming his film “The Kashmir Files.” The CM’s office stated it had no information about the legal notice.

Mamata Banerjee expressed concern over the current scenario in violence-hit Manipur on Monday. She alleged that the ruling BJP is not providing a comprehensive picture of the numbers of the diseased in the northeastern state, where shoot-at-sight directives are in effect.

Banerjee said last week that she would “never allow” the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be implemented in the state. She also attacked the BJP, saying that central agencies such as the CBI and the ED are unlikely to help the saffron party get voters in next year’s general election.

Mamata Banerjee stated last week that she would be pleased if the BJP’s “downfall” begins with the Karnataka Assembly elections, which started on May 10.

Proofread & Published By Naveenika Chauhan