The Bharatiya Janata Party has hit a jackpot in West Bengal by winning 18 seats out of 42 in the state. The team that worked behind the scenes had BJP leader Mukul Roy who had joined the BJP 18 months ag. Mukul Roy left the TMC after differences with party supremo Mamata Banerjee.

India Today TV's Manogya Loiwal spoke to Mukul Roy exclusively on what went behind the saffron surge in West Bengal:

Question: CM Mamata Banerjee was very angry when you left the TMC, she has called you a traitor on multiple occasions

Answer: This depends upon her taste but I think taunting someone is not good. Bengal has a culture where people do not like her way of speaking. If I want I can also call her a traitor but I will never do that because Congress made her MP five times and minister too but she left Congress so I can also call her traitor. Atal Bihari Vajpayee made her minister, gave her so much of love and affection but she left him, this is a work of traitor but I do not say anything.

Q: You made election strategies for TMC in 2014 and they got 18 seats and this time you did the same for BJP and they also won 18 seats

A: There is a difference between 2014 and 2019. TMC has finished the democracy and Mamata Banerjee has crossed all the limits. At that time TMC did not fight alone, Congress was along with them, but this time BJP fought alone but you have to agree that this time the way Amit Shah and Narendra Modi have supervised and focused on Bengal, changed the final figure. But one thing that disappoints me that is I could not fulfil this responsibility properly, the number should not be 18, it should have been 25 but if this responsibility stays with me, I will fulfil this goal.

Q: When do you like the Bengal state elections to be -- 2021 or before that?

A: That public will decide. When the election will take place and when it will not, it's completely public's decision.

Q: How were you feeling on May 23 when the counting was going on, was it like what a student feels like before results?

A: Yes, the tension was really there, if I say that I was not tensed that would be a lie. With the political assessment and calculations that were done, I was sure that it will be more than 14 seats, so there was tension for Bengal and there was tension for the country too, will my party get the majority vote or not.

Q: Which among the 18 seats was the most difficult to win?

A: All seats were difficult in Bengal, starting from Darjeeling all the seats were difficult. The seats from Arambagh and Malda Dakshin have been stolen from us, because we won there. Starting from Dilip Ghosh all the candidates had to fight a lot to win so I congratulate all of them.

Q: So how many calls did you get from Trinamool Congress members to join Bharatiya Janata Party?

A: It is a confidential matter so cannot be discussed. Trinamool lost 143 assembly segments in the Lok Sabha elections, no one wants to stay in a losing party.

Q: So would you say more than 100 MPs are in touch with you?

A: They have lost in 143 assembly constituencies with the result of the 2019 elections, so a lost candidate will never like stay in a losing party.

Q: What message do you want to give to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee?

A: I would first say that democracy should be brought back to Bengal for which BJP will fight in future. This is the first step in returning democracy in Bengal. Then I would want that Central government takes some steps for development of West Bengal. Also, some industries should be built in Bengal to offer jobs to the unhappy and unemployed youth of Bengal.

Q: Did Didi pay the price for minority appeasement?

A: See, mixing Hindus and Muslims is not good. This is pseudo secularism which she is doing. Police faces trouble to for taking cases where Muslims are accused, this should not go on.

Q: You son raised his voice against Mamata Banerjee and she has called him a traitor. Is Shubhransgu Roy going to join BJP?

A: It is completely his choice, but if someone insults his father infront of him would raise his voice, as he is my son. He felt bad because of which he raised his voice and I think if a son does not do this then he is not a good son, as you have seen in Uttar Pradesh Mulayam Singh Yadav made his son, Akhilesh the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and after that the way he behaved with his father, he had to pay for that decision.

Q: You have got 18 seats, to whom you are going to give a ministry in Delhi?

A: This is not my decision, it's the prime minister's decision and central party's decision, they will decide whom to give.

Q: State three differences between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janta Party, as you have seen both the parties very closely?

A: Bharatiya Janata Party is a national party, it does not have any similarity with Trinamool Congress. Bharatiya Janata Party has policies and ideologies which Trinamool Congress does not have at all.