Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday slammed the West Bengal Congress unit for fighting against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the state panchayat elections, despite both the parties working together at the national level to defeat the BJP.
Addressing a public meeting at Sujapur in Malda district, the TMC MP trained his gun on state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for speaking the language of BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari.
“In Patna, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sits beside Didi (Mamata Banerjee) and says we will fight together, but here in Bengal state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury speaks the language of Suvendu Adhikari and Sukanta Majumdar (BJP state president). Chowdhury is BJP’s biggest agent in Bengal. He prefers Dada’s police (central security forces) over Didi’s police. Have the people ever seen Adhir Chowdhury in a press conference slamming Suvendu Adhikari or Mohammad Salim (CPM leader)? Have the people ever seen the BJP, in their press conferences, slamming Adhir? No,” said Abhishek.
Recently, Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi came together in a meeting of non-BJP Opposition parties in Patna chaired by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.
Alleging that there is a tacit understanding between the Congress, CPM and the BJP, the TMC leader said, “There is an unannounced understanding between the three parties. For instance, if the Congress filed nominations from one seat, the BJP and CPM abstained from fielding their candidates from there. Similarly, for seats where the CPM fielded candidates, both the BJP and Congress chose not to.”
Banerjee also said that not a single independent candidate who decided to contest the election after not getting TMC ticket will be taken back in the party.
Reacting to Banerjee’s allegations, Adhir Chowdhury said the TMC must first make its stand clear on the Congress as its prospective alliance partner. “Who asked Mamata Banerjee to go to Patna to attend the Opposition meeting? Did the Congress ask her to go there? The TMC has destroyed the Congress in West Bengal. The ruling party has helped the RSS gain a foothold in the state. When Rahul Gandhi was taking out the Bharat Jodo Yatra, why did the TMC stay away from it? The TMC strengthened the BJP’s hands in Goa, Tripura and Meghalaya by contesting elections there and acted as the saffron party’s intermediary. The TMC should be the last party to say such things. We are not ready to get lectured by the TMC,” said Chowdhury.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
