After Mamata’s remarks against Rahul, the Congress riposte: ‘TMC a Trojan Horse in Oppn camp’

The Congress leader hit out at Banerjee over her comment that the TMC would “go it alone” in the general elections. “This only reflects the true nature of the parties like the TMC that is nothing but a Trojan Horse in the Opposition camp. The TMC has joined hands with the BJP to protect itself from the clutches of the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and the ED (Enforcement Directorate) in corruption cases.”

At a meeting with TMC leaders from Murshidabad, addressed over the phone on Sunday, Banerjee said, “As long as Rahul Gandhi lives, no one will think bad about Modi … Why is BJP hitting out at Rahul Gandhi? Everybody knows. I will not say anything beyond that …”

Banerjee also claimed that while “the TMC has not bowed down to the BJP”, the Congress has. “I will be friends with you in Delhi, and here (in Bengal) you will be friends with the BJP! I did not bow to the BJP, the Congress bowed,” Banerjee told party workers at the meeting that came weeks after the party’s defeat in the Sagardighi Assembly bypoll.

In the bypoll, the Congress snatched the seat from the TMC that had been winning the seat since 2011. “Those who want to defeat the BJP, I believe they will vote for us … I believe that those voting for the CPI(M) and the Congress are actually voting for the BJP. This truth has come to light today itself,” Banerjee told her party workers, blaming an “unholy alliance of Congress-CPI(M) and BJP” for the Sagardighi defeat.

Dismissing Banerjee’s accusations, CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said the people of Sagardighi did not vote for her because of her party’s “immoral activities”. He added, “The 32,000 people who voted for Trinamool in Sagardhi during the 2021 Assembly election did not vote for the ruling party in this bypoll. It is clear that they chose the Left-Congress alliance out of anger against the Trinamool … She (Banerjee) who has not approached ethics all her life will now teach us ethics?”

The TMC chief’s latest attack on Gandhi and the Congress came just two days after the party announced that it would stay away from both the grand old party and the BJP, and indicated possible talks with other regional parties ahead of the general elections. The TMC also said the Congress was not the “big boss” of the Opposition.

Sources in the TMC said Mamata would visit Bhubaneswar on Tuesday to meet Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik. “There also, Didi (Mamata) will continue her pursuit to form an anti-BJP and anti-Congress alliance at the national level,” said a senior TMC leader.