After Nitish Kumar's INDIA exit, Trinamool takes ‘Congress sat idle in Bengal’ jibe
Abhishek Banerjee, however, said that the "party continues to be a part of the opposition bloc INDIA at the national level."
Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee on Monday blamed the Congress for tension in the INDIA bloc in West Bengal, saying his party Trinamool Congress decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections alone because the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party was too late in finalising the seat-sharing agreement. He also accused the Congress of “sitting idle”. The fresh Trinamool attack on the Congress came a day after the Janata Dal (United) attributed Nitish Kumar's exit from the INDIA bloc to the party's alleged attempt to usurp the political group's leadership.
Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee said the Mamata Banerjee-led party waited eight months to finalise the seat-sharing agreement with the Congress.
“According to alliance norms, the first thing you do is seal the seat-sharing. We had waited for eight months to seal the seat-sharing issue. But the Congress was sitting idle and nothing moved forward,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Earlier this month, Mamata Banerjee announced that the Trinamool would contest the elections in Bengal alone, in a major blow to the Congress party's plans to stop the BJP juggernaut through a combined Opposition onslaught.
Later, Derek O'Brien blamed Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for the fiasco, who had made savage attacks against Banerjee for offering his party just two seats.
Abhishek Banerjee today slammed Chowdhury for playing into the hands of the BJP camp and repeatedly attacking the TMC government in West Bengal, despite being an ally at the national level.
Referring to Chowdhury's demand for a President's Rule in Bengal over a recent attack on Enforcement Directorate's officers, Banerjee claimed he was serving the BJP's interests.
"By demanding President's Rule, whose interest is the state Congress president trying to serve — the TMC, the Congress or the BJP? There is a limit to our patience," he said.
The TMC leader, however, said that the "party continues to be a part of the opposition bloc INDIA at the national level."
Also read: Arvind Kejriwal questions 'Nitish Kumar's conduct' after flip-flop move to NDA
Nitish Kumar had accused the Congress of hatching a conspiracy by making Mamata Banerjee propose Mallikarjun Kharge's name as the alliance's prime ministerial candidate.
Kumar's exit has put a question mark on the Opposition's unity. Apart from Mamata and Nitish Kumar, other INDIA partners like AAP and Samajwadi Party have hinted at an aversion to letting the Congress play big brother in their states. The alliance seems unlikely in Kerala as well given the bitter political rivalry between CPI(M) and Congress.
Out of options, the Congress has been trying to woo Mamata Banerjee. Recently, Jairam Ramesh said the INDIA bloc couldn't be imagined without her.
The party also made Chowdhury extend a public apology to O'Brien for calling the latter a foreigner.
With inputs from PTI
