As INDIA bloc collapses in Bengal, Adhir hits back at Mamata: ‘She can’t be trusted’

The option before the Congress now is to try and stitch an alliance with the Left parties in West Bengal. But an alliance with the Left, if that happens, will be interesting given the fact that the two forces are ranged against each other in Kerala. And not just that. Leaders of the CPI, especially its general secretary D Raja, have been critical of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for contesting from Wayanad again, saying a leader of his stature should choose a seat where he can directly take on the BJP.

Yousuf Pathan and Mohua Moitra at the Brigade Parade Ground, Kolkata. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)

Congress leader in Lok Sabha and West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told The Indian Express that he had anticipated Banerjee’s move though his party was hoping that she would have a change of heart.

“I had anticipated it. I had already told all of you. However, my party was in a different mode. They were under the impression that today or tomorrow she will be convinced. If she is serious about fighting against communal forces, she should have forged an alliance with the INDIA bloc. She has ditched the INDIA bloc. Remember, she was one of the proponents of the alliance. She has abundantly proved that she is such a politician who cannot be relied upon. She is unreliable and cannot be trusted,” Chowdhury said.

আমি চিরকালের জন্য শ্রীমতী @MamataOfficial এর কৃতজ্ঞ, যিনি আমাকে TMC পরিবারে স্বাগত জানিয়েছেন এবং পার্লামেন্টে জনগণের কণ্ঠস্বর হওয়ার দায়িত্বে আমার প্রতি বিশ্বাস রেখেছেন।

জনগণের প্রতিনিধি হিসেবে, দরিদ্র ও বঞ্চিতদের উন্নতি সাধন আমাদের কর্তব্য, এবং আমি আশা করি সেটা অর্জন করতে… pic.twitter.com/8wEEN8BsR0

— Yusuf Pathan (@iamyusufpathan) March 10, 2024

The TMC has fielded former cricketer Yusuf Pathan from Baharampur, a seat where the Muslim community’s vote is crucial, against Chowdhury. In 2019, the TMC fielded former Congress MLA Apurba Sarkar who lost to Chowdhury by around 79,000 votes.

“I do not have any problem with anyone… Yusuf Pathan or anyone else… contesting against me. But I think she is trying to divide the minority to give a long rope to the BJP. That is my understanding. She is trying to divide the Muslim vote… and give a long rope to the BJP.”

He said if the TMC wanted to honour Pathan and make him an MP, it should have sent him to Rajya Sabha in the recent elections.

“If Mamata Banerjee had good intentions about Yusuf Pathan, she could have asked for a seat for him from the INDIA alliance in Gujarat. But he has been fielded to ensure that there is polarisation to help the BJP and the Congress is defeated,” he said.

Chowdhury said Banerjee is scared of taking on Modi and she has sent a message to the Prime Minister by deciding to fight alone. “If she joins the INDIA bloc.., she thinks the Central government would send ED, CBI… after the TMC… So, she chose to stay out of the alliance and send a message to the PMO that she is not part of the alliance… and that she is not fighting the BJP.”

The Congress central leadership was more circumspect.

“The Indian National Congress has repeatedly declared its desire to have a respectable seat-sharing agreement with the TMC in West Bengal. The Indian National Congress has always maintained that such an agreement has to be finalised through negotiations and not by unilateral announcements. The Indian National Congress has always wanted the INDIA group to fight the BJP together,” Congress communication head Jairam Ramesh said.

He said the Congress had always said that “our doors are open” for seat-sharing negotiations “but there should be no unilateral announcements” on seats. “I don’t know what pressures were on the TMC… as far as we are concerned, we want to strengthen the INDIA group in Bengal.”

The TMC hit back, pointing out that the Congress had unilaterally announced its candidates in Meghalaya. “If the Congress today says that the TMC has not waited and gone ahead with the announcement of all the 42 candidates in West Bengal, I think they should be reminded of the fact that the Congress is probably not aware of what is on ground zero. There is a complete delink from the ground reality. Is it not a fact that they have gone ahead and announced their candidates in Meghalaya?” senior TMC leader and former Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said.