Addressing a rally in Dadra and Nagar Haveli's Silvassa on Saturday, 19 January, in retaliation to the Opposition's 'United India' rally in Kolkata, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that all the Opposition parties had gathered in West Bengal in fear of the BJP, where the saffron party had only 'one MLA'.
In the video, Modi can be heard saying,
“In West Bengal, the BJP has only one MLA. But there, to escape the BJP, the whole of India has gathered. A party with one MLA has ruined the sleep of all the other parties. Because, we walk on the path of truth. And despite us having just one MLA, all parties in India have gathered there and are crying for help.”
Now, how far are PM Modi's claims of having "just one MLA" in the state true? We find out.
HOW MANY BJP MLAs IN WEST BENGAL?
Assuming that the prime minister meant MLAs, The Quint checked the website of the West Bengal state legislature.
The website listed three MLAs from the BJP in West Bengal – Manoj Tigga, Swadhin Kumar Sarkar and Dilip Kumar Ghosh. None of these three MLAs represent Kolkata.
Tigga represents Madarihat, Sarkar represents Baisnabnagar in Malda, and Ghosh represents Kharagpur Sadar in Paschim Medinipur.
MAYBE HE MEANT MP?
Then, assuming that the prime minister meant MP, but said MLAs instead, we checked the Lok Sabha website to verify that. BJP has three MPs in the Lok Sabha – of which two are elected representatives, while one is a nominated member.
Ahluwalia represents Darjeeling while Babul Supriyo is the BJP MP from Asansol and George Baker is the nominated anglo-Indian MP. None of these MPs represent Kolkata.
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