Mamata Banerjee says K'ntaka poll results 'beginning of the end'

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday that BJP losing Karnataka is the "beginning of the end", PTI reported.

According to her, the Karnataka poll results show that people wanted plurality and no "central design to dominate" could repress them. She congratulated the Kannada people for their mandate favouring change and said that "brute authoritarian and majoritarian" politics has been thoroughly defeated.

She predicted that BJP would lose in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh too, where it will face Congress as it did in Karnataka.

"This is the beginning of the end of the BJP before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. People have voted against the arrogance and intolerance of the BJP.

"I think the saffron party will also lose the upcoming elections in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh," Ms Banerjee said.

Earlier on the day, when she noted that BJP is losing its only southern state, she tweeted, "My salutations to the people of Karnataka for their decisive mandate in favour of change!! Brute authoritarian and majoritarian politics is vanquished!! "When people want plurality and democratic forces to win, no central design to dominate can repress their spontaneity: that is the moral of the story, a lesson for tomorrow.

As late as March this year, the fiery TMC chief had said she would maintain equidistance from both the BJP and Congress, only to change her stance after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP.

After a meeting with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar last month, Banerjee formally announced she would be part of a united opposition, including the Congress, which would challenge the BJP in 2024.