New Delhi: A day after Rahul Gandhi claimed that he was very close to Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo Mon Wednesday said that her party, the Trinamool Congress would fight alone in Bengal. This also comes as a huge setback to the INDIA bloc.
“I had no discussions with the Congress party. I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I am not concerned about what will be done in the country but we are a secular party and in Bengal, we will alone defeat BJP,” the TMC supremo said.
Contrary to claims by the Congress that they had invited INDIA bloc parties to join the Yatra, the Bengal Chief Minister also claimed she had not been informed of Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra passing through Bengal.
“They did not even bother to inform me that they will be coming to West Bengal as a matter of courtesy even though I am a part of the INDIA bloc. So there is no relation with me as far as Bengal is concerned” Mamata Banerjee said.
“We will decide on what to do at the all-India level. We are a secular party. We will do whatever we can to defeat the BJP. The alliance does not comprise any one party. We have said that they should fight in some states and the regional parties should be left to fight alone in the other states. They should not interfere” she added.
VIDEO | “They (Congress) are doing rally (in Bengal), but they did not inform me. I am a part of the INDIA alliance, as a courtesy they should have informed me that ‘Didi I am coming to your state’. We are a secular party and will do whatever we can to defeat the BJP,” says West… pic.twitter.com/XXfEipxqUY
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 24, 2024
The rift between Trinamool and Congress came after state unit chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury attacked the Bengal Chief Minister. In a news conference on Tuesday Adhir Chowdhury claimed that in the 2011 elections, Mamata Banerjee came to power with the mercy of Congress.
“This time, the elections will not be fought at the mercy of Mamata Banerjee. The Congress defeated the BJP and TMC in the two seats that Mamata Banerjee is leaving. The Congress party knows how to contest the elections. Mamta Banerjee is an opportunist; she came to power in 2011, with the mercy of Congress,” the Congress MP said.
Rahul Gandhi who is in Assam as part of his Nyay Yatra tried to quell the damage been done by the state unit chief’s repeated attacks by insisting that he had a good relationship with the TMC supremo.
