Even as the TMC extended a friendly hand to the Congress ahead of the Goa assembly elections, the offer of an alliance between the two parties still seems contentious.
On Friday, Congress veteran P Chidambaram said to defeat the BJP the formula has to be “Congress plus others, not others plus Congress”. It is clear that the grand old party wants to play the big brother in the fight against the BJP in Goa.
TMC MP and Goa incharge Mahua Moitra had tweeted a week ago that everyone should unite in their fight against the BJP, and had tagged the Congress. After Chidambaram’s statement, however, Moitra posted a response on Twitter and, in a veiled attack on the Congress, said “no one should be on their high horse” as the need of the hour was to defeat the BJP.
Moitra tweeted: “In response: 1. AITC already made formal & definitive offer to INC on Goa to defeat BJP; 2. INC leadership asked for time to revert. This was almost 2 weeks ago; 3. If Mr. Chidambaram not aware of details he should talk to his leadership rather than making these statements.”
In response: 1. AITC already made formal & definitive offer to INC on Goa to defeat BJP
2. INC leadership asked for time to revert. This was almost 2 weeks ago
3 If Mr. Chidambaram not aware of details he should talk to his leadership rather than making these statements. https://t.co/qRFmqeGDUz
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) January 14, 2022
In another tweet, she also said the AITC will not “shy away from walking the last mile”.
Not only Moitra, Rajya Sabha MP Susmita Dev, too, tweeted over the issue on Saturday, saying, “Drop the double standards on defection. If anyone leaves the grand old party they are branded traitors & when someone joins them they are not traitors. We are building our party with leaders who want to join us. It’s our democratic right.”
Drop the double standards on defection. If anyone leaves the grand old party they are branded traitors & when someone joins them they are not traitors.
We are building our party with leaders who want to join us. It’s our democratic right. 🙏🏻
– Sushmita Dev Sushmita Dev (ushSushmitaDevAITC) January 15, 2022
Chidambaram had also talked about how the TMC was poaching Congress leaders in the run-up to the Goa polls. The Congress has taken a stand to not accept too many leaders from other parties as it was rebuilding in Goa after veteran Luizinho Faleiro left to join the TMC.
Within half an hour of Dev’s tweet, Moitra tweeted again, saying, “AITC serious about defeating BJP. Uninformed false bravado no substitute for rational thinking & maturity. Definitive offer between principals on table – waiting for revert. No desire to engage in further Twitter shadow boxing with various INC functionaries.”
Party insiders said the TMC was interested in tying up with the Congress and had made an offer of an alliance to the party. If the Congress took up the offer, then too, it was a fact that the TMC made the move and took the initiative, they added.
But switchovers from the Congress to the TMC earlier may play a big role in determining whether the alliance will happen.
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