Kolkata, May 14 (PTI) TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday claimed the BJP's defeat in the Karnataka Assembly polls is testimony that the saffron party will be trounced in next year's Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking at a public meeting at Raina in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district, he said people have the last word in a democracy, which is clearly evident from poll results.

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"BJP has literally vanished from South India… It is also not in power in the eastern states of West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand… It is only a matter of time before the party is vanquished,” the Trinamool Congress MP asserted.

In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, the Congress won 135 seats, while the ruling BJP secured 66 seats.

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He also maintained that the BJP government at the Centre was withholding funds meant for West Bengal, since it lost in the 2021 assembly elections.

Banerjee said despite TMC MPs meeting the Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj for release of funds due under the 100-day job scheme, the amount has not been released yet.

The state's dues from the Centre are to the tune of Rs 1.15 lakh crore, he claimed.

The Diamond Harbour MP said if required, he will lead people from Bengal to sit on a dharna outside the Krishi Bhavan in New Delhi for securing the pending funds.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)