Edited By: Pritha Mallick
Last Updated: January 28, 2023, 7:57 PM IST
Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee attacked attacked Amit Shah by calling him “Pappu”. (Image tweeted by Abhishek Banerjee)
Abhishek Banerjee, who has begun reviewing performance at his Lok Sabha constituency of Diamond Harbour, told reporters that relations between Congress and TMC have not developed
TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday denied receiving an invitation from Congress for its ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ finale event and lashed out at the grand old party, stating that not even 1 per cent of the party remains in West Bengal.
“Why are they inviting now?” he asked during a press conference. “When they started on October 2, they had said they could do everything alone,” he added.
Referring to the BJP’s mass followers on social media, he said the TMC will not take on BJP on Facebook and Twitter but will go against the saffron party on the ground level.
Banerjee, who has begun reviewing performance at his Lok Sabha constituency of Diamond Harbour, told reporters that relations between Congress and TMC have not developed.
Party insiders have said Banerjee’s statement “clearly shows” that the TMC will not consider Congress as its “big brother”, come what may.
‘Every Congress Vote Means it Goes to BJP’
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had said Opposition leaders conveying their inability to attend the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra finale event on January 30 in Srinagar was not a setback as people have pre-occupations. “Let me clarify that the function on January 30 is not a coalition-building exercise. It was an invitation in good faith to come together against the BJP,” he said, adding the event is not a platform for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
“Any opposition platform to defeat the BJP must be based on two realities: Congress must be the pivot or the fulcrum of any Opposition alliance and without the Congress, no opposition alliance is relevant or meaningful,” he said.
Reacting to the statement, Banerjee said, “let us wait and leave it to the people. Every party has a right to conduct yatra,” adding that the people will decide who is more important to vote. “Neither Abhishek Banerjee nor Jairam Ramesh has a say on this. Look how they (Congress) performed in Goa. They are not even 1 per cent in Bengal. Every vote to Congress means it goes to BJP,” he said.
Sources in the TMC said the party is now focusing on expanding its footprint at the national level through North East. “That’s why they are concentrating on Meghalaya and Tripura elections. Their plan is clear — to increase their strength for Lok Sabha. But if Congress thinks they will be the Big Brother in any opposition alliance, that will not be allowed,” they said.
BJP, on the other hand, believes that the Opposition has disintegrated in India, and this division will help them in the Lok Sabha election.
One thing is clear the TMC will not allow Congress to be the boss of any alliance.
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