West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday criticised Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and alleged that her changing statements and shifting stance were indicative of her fear of the BJP.
Mr Chowdhury, who has been held responsible by the Trinamool Congress for a failed alliance between the two parties in Bengal for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, said it was quite unfortunate to see a senior leader such as Ms Banerjee attack the Congress.
“Mamata Banerjee has been alleging that the Congress is talking about different things to get Muslim votes. The BJP is also saying that grand-old party will be weaker in the coming days, and Didi (Mamata) is saying nothing is possible by the Congress. I am unable to understand what is actually in their mind. But it’s quite unfortunate to see that a leader who is in the INDIA bloc say such things,” Mr Chowdhury told reporters in Murshidabad district.
“It seems that Mamata Banerjee is scared of the BJP and that is the reason she is changing her stance every day,” he said while reacting on TMC chief’s remark that the Congress is unlikely to win even 40 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
Ms Banerjee’s remarks followed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that discussions on seat-sharing with the ruling TMC were ongoing and the matter would be resolved.
The TMC chief had strongly criticised the Congress’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, which traversed through six districts of Bengal, and compared it to a “mere photo opportunity” for “migratory birds” aimed at dividing minority votes in the state.
“I proposed that Congress contest 300 seats (across the country where BJP is the main opposition), but they refused to heed. Now, they have arrived in the state to stir up Muslim voters. I doubt whether they will secure even 40 seats if they contested 300,” Banerjee said on Friday.
“We were open to an alliance, offering them two seats, which they rejected. Now let them contest in all 42 seats alone. Since then, there has been no dialogue between us. We will fight alone and defeat the BJP in Bengal,” she said.
Ms Banerjee’s remarks came a day after Mr Gandhi expressed his optimism of resolving the seat-sharing stalemate while interacting with the party’s ‘digital media warriors’ in West Bengal on Thursday night.
