On Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reaffirmed her party’s loyalty to the Opposition’s INDIA bloc, quashing rumors of a rift. This declaration came in response to her earlier comment suggesting that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) might support the central government externally, sparking doubts about TMC’s commitment to the alliance. Banerjee clarified that while TMC is a steadfast member of the INDIA bloc at the national level in Delhi, it does not have any local alliance with the Congress or the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) in Bengal.
During an election rally in Haldia, Mamata Banerjee accused the Congress and CPI(M) of collaborating with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to divide opposition votes in Bengal. She urged voters to reject these parties in the state, reiterating TMC’s national alignment with the INDIA bloc. “Attempts by the Congress and CPI(M), fueled by BJP funds, to divide votes should be resisted. Do not vote for them here. I’ve made it clear that there’s no alliance in Bengal, but we are aligned in Delhi. We will remain so,” she asserted. She highlighted her pivotal role in establishing the INDIA alliance and her ongoing support for it, aiming to dispel any misunderstandings about TMC’s position.
Conversely, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury expressed skepticism about Banerjee’s intentions, accusing her of abandoning the alliance. Chowdhury suggested that Banerjee might even align with the BJP, pointing to her previous remarks that seemed to undermine Congress’s electoral prospects. “I don’t trust her. She left the alliance and ran away. She can also go towards the BJP… They were talking about destroying the Congress party and that Congress would not get more than 40 seats, but now she is saying that it means the Congress party and the alliance are coming to power,” Chowdhury remarked.
Mamata Banerjee also used the rally to criticize the BJP over the disputed result of the Nandigram seat in the 2021 Assembly elections, where she narrowly lost to her former aide-turned-BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari. She accused the BJP, with the Election Commission’s assistance, of manipulating the election outcome through administrative changes and orchestrating a power outage on polling day. Banerjee vowed to seek justice, asserting that the result did not reflect the will of Nandigram’s people and promising to challenge it legally. “With the assistance of the Election Commission of India, the BJP changed the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police. On polling day, they orchestrated a power outage, leading to a change in the results. I will seek justice for this injustice, be it tomorrow or the future. BJP will not stay forever, nor will agencies like the CBI or ED. My case is still pending in court, and I will seek justice. This isn’t the verdict of the people of Nandigram,” she declared.
Follow for more.
