NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: The Congress and the TMC engaged in a verbal duel after the grand previous get together’s lone MLA in West Bengal crossed over to the state’s ruling get together, and accused each other of working towards Opposition unity forward of the 2024 common elections. The Congress lashed out on the Trinamool Congress, saying such “poaching” is just not designed to strengthen Opposition unity and solely serves the BJP’s goals. The TMC hit again, accusing the Congress of breaching belief on Opposition unity.
The spat between the 2 events assumes significance because it comes at a time when efforts are underway to forge a united Opposition to tackle the BJP within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress misplaced its lone MLA within the West Bengal meeting, Bayron Biswas, as he crossed over to the ruling TMC on Monday. Biswas joined the get together within the presence of its common secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
In a pointy assault on the TMC, Congress common secretary Jairam Ramesh stated, “Three months after he was elected as a Congress MLA in a historic victory, Bayron Biswas has been lured away by the TMC in West Bengal.” This is a whole betrayal of the mandate of the individuals of the Sagardighi meeting constituency, Ramesh stated on Twitter.
“Such poaching which has happened earlier in Goa, Meghalaya, Tripura and other states is not designed to strengthen Opposition unity and only serves the BJP’s objectives,” he stated. On Ramesh’s remarks, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated, “We (Opposition parties) are all together at the national level. All parties should understand that state parties have their own obligations. We have contested only Meghalaya and Goa but when the Congress contested Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, we did not disrupt. Instead of disrupting, we supported them.”
“That is why I don’t have any comments (about Ramesh’s remarks). Anybody can say anything. Yes one MLA joined…You (Congress) are a national party, BJP is a national party, it is not just about winning elections but it is also for vote percentage, through which we may become a national party,” she stated at a press convention in Kolkata.
“So we want that we have a presence in three-four places so that we have national party status. Why should they only have national party status and not us,” the chief minister requested. Hitting again at Ramesh, TMC MP Derek O’ Brien stated, “‘Despite Mamata Banerjee’s support Congress vows to fight Mamata Banerjee in Bengal’ Statement from Congress two weeks ago. Congress breaches trust on Opposition unity and then expects bouquets of roses! And about strengthening BJP? Grow up please.”
Senior TMC chief Sukhendu Sekhar Roy stated the Congress has to determine who they need to battle. “They can’t claim that they are fighting against the BJP at the Centre by opposing the TMC in Bengal. This double standard has to stop. The policy of Kerala, where the CPI(M) and the Congress are at loggerheads but are allies at the Centre, won’t work in West Bengal,” he instructed PTI. The CPI(M) and the Congress have allied in West Bengal and are collectively preventing towards the TMC and the opposition BJP within the state.
The TMC’s deputy chief in Rajya Sabha claimed that Biswas joined the get together as he felt “it is the only force which can fight against the BJP in Bengal”. “We don’t need lessons from the Congress about how to fight against the BJP. In Bengal, the Congress has aligned with the CPI(M) and has been fighting against us to help the BJP,” he stated. At the perform to hitch the ruling get together in Ghatal, Medinipur, Bayron claimed the Congress performed no function in his victory and that he received due to “my goodwill”.
Bayron, a neighborhood ‘bidi’ magnate, had received the Sagardighi seat earlier this 12 months in a by-election, beating his TMC rival, a lot to the consternation of the ruling camp. The desertion of the MLA doesn’t come below the purview of the anti-defection regulation as he’s the lone consultant of the Congress within the meeting and his becoming a member of the TMC means a merger of the Congress Legislative get together with the bigger TMC legislative get together.
On Monday, Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury additionally lashed out at Biswas for his desertion, saying, “If we had not been there with you (Bayron Biswas), you would not be what you are (an MLA) today”. Chowdhury had stated the TMC was petrified after dropping the Sagardighi by-polls and had used every part at its disposal to poach the Congress MLA. He additionally blamed TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee for luring MLAs from different events.
