From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Karnataka election results have triggered a fresh war of words over the leadership issue in 2024 in West Bengal between Trinamul Congress (TMC) and the Congress.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is not prepared to accept that her part has lost the status as a national party and so it should concede that the Congress should better lead a united opposition against the BJP.
Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is also the West Bengal Congress President, continues to fight with Mamata as ever. He pricked her by asserting that “Congress being a pan-India party can unite the Opposition” and there is no alternative to the Congress in national politics.”
While Mamata Banerjee took no cognizance of the Congress by refusing to congratulate its leaders for their landslide victory in the southern state, Chowdhury too ignored the existence of the Trinamul Congress in the national political map, saying “tiny groups may say anything but after the Karnataka results, it is clear that no party other than the Congress can take on the BJP and so it is the Congress that is going to take the centre stage.
Mamata has her own theory that “the rod to Karnataka started from Bengal in 2021 when the TMC roared back to power with overwhelming majority.” Chowdhury shot back that “there are only two fronts in the country now. One is communal and another Secular front. Only the Congress and no one else has the power to defeat the Modi government.”
Chowdhury calls TMC a ‘B’ team of the BJP while TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh reacted that the Congress was the ‘C’ team of the CPI-M in Bengal and the ?CPI-M itself is a ‘B’ team of th BJP in Bengal.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar says this time of fighting will continue in the parties at the state level, but they will have to sink the differences if they want to oust Modi from power in the Lok Sabha elections. He suggested to the Congress leadership to tame down Chowdhury and recognise that TMC has the capacity to win the seats in West Bengal.
Reacting to the infight in Bengal, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Congress is weak in several parts of the country and so the BJP needs to be countered state-wise. He batted for a “state-wise” strategy of uniting anti-BJP forces to take on the saffron party.
