Rahul’s comments have TMC seething: ‘Congress insecure and irrelevant … in delirium’

Within hours, Abhishek Banerjee, the West Bengal CM’s nephew and the TMC’s de facto number two, took to Twitter to respond to Gandhi’s accusations. He wrote in a series of tweets, “@INCIndia has failed to resist @BJP4India. The irrelevance, incompetence & insecurity has put them in a state of delirium. I urge @RahulGandhi to revisit the politics of vanity instead of attacking us. Our growth isn’t driven by money, it is people’s love that propels us. By the same logic, when Congress contested 92 seats in Bengal Elections in 2021, was their idea to help the BJP? Rahul Gandhi’s statement against @AITCofficial is pretty rich, especially coming from a party that has lost 40 out of the last 45 Assembly Elections in India.”

Echoing Banerjee’s comments, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien drew attention to the recent exit of Congress MLAs in Goa. “In March 2022, the people of Goa elected 11 MLAs who contested on a Congress ticket. In less than a year, eight of those MLAs have joined the BJP. Who is helping whom?” he asked.

By the same logic, when Congress contested 92 seats in Bengal Elections in 2021, was their idea to help the BJP?

Rahul Gandhi’s statements against @AITCofficial is pretty rich, especially coming from a party that has lost 40 out of the last 45 Assembly Elections in India. (2/2)

— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) February 22, 2023

TMC Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy told The Indian Express, “We don’t agree with him. He is making baseless comments. Important leaders like former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma left the Congress and joined our party. In Meghalaya, it is not a question of the TMC cutting Congress’s votes. It is a question of the Congress cutting the TMC’s votes. When it comes to West Bengal, all other parties, like the Congress, the CPI(M) and the BJP, come together against the TMC. Therefore, we don’t agree with what Rahul Gandhi said.”

For West Bengal’s ruling party, the push to win Meghalaya comes months after its efforts to expand its national footprint suffered a blow following a heavy defeat in Goa. In November 2021, 12 of 17 Congress MLAs, including Mukul Sangma, switched over to the Trinamool, turning it into the main Opposition party in the Assembly. Gandhi’s comments came a day after party president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Congress was in touch with other Opposition parties about next year’s parliamentary elections and expressed confidence that an Opposition alliance led by his party would come to power.