Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said her party would definitely come back to power in the next Assembly election and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership should not live under any illusion of taking over the state’s reins anytime soon.

“Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, they (BJP leaders) had made a comment — ‘2019 ey half, 2021 ey saaf’ (Half the number of seats by 2019, a complete washout by 2021). I would like to tell them that it is the Trinamool Congress that is going to form the next government in Bengal.

“We will form the next government in Bengal without distorting history, without creating a division among people and without playing the religious card,” the TMC supremo added.

This is for the first time since the launch of ‘Didi Ke Bolo’ campaign on July 29, 2019, that Banerjee has made a statement on the 2021 Assembly polls in the state.

The campaign is a brainchild of poll strategist Prashant Kishor and he has specifically asked all TMC leaders to come out of the “election mode” and focus on the strengthening the party at the ground level.

Meanwhile, Banerjee announced a revised pay scale for teachers in the higher education sector under the (University Grants Commission) from January 1.

Addressing a gathering of more than 12,000 teachers at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, the chief minister said, “The revised UGC pay scale, as recommended by the 7th Central Pay Commission, will incur a total expenditure of Rs 1,000 crore on the state exchequer.”

The revised pay structure will be implemented in government colleges, state-aided colleges and universities. “The teachers will also get a 3% increment on their respective salaries for four years — from 2016-19,” she added.