While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Congress president Sonia Gandhi here on Friday—their second meeting in as many weeks—to discuss the issue of the Opposition’s Presidential candidate, leaders of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee have expressed their displeasure over the “growing closeness” between the two leaders. Sources in the WBPCC have said that they are “unwilling” to get into any sort of compromise with the Trinamool Congress and its chief Mamata Banerjee in the state.
“The Bengal Congress will not accept any situation under which Mamata Banerjee will try to be cosy with the Congress and there will be no situation under which there will be any compromise with Mamata Banerjee in the state,” Bengal Pradesh Congress general secretary Om Prakash Mishra told The Sunday Guardian.
The Bengal Pradesh Congress has also expressed its displeasure with the name of Sharmistha Mukherjee, a Congress leader, being floated by the TMC as a Rajya Sabha candidate from the state.
A senior leader, on the condition of anonymity, said, “The TMC is floating a Congress leader from Delhi as the Rajya Sabha candidate and this is unacceptable to the Congress here in Bengal. Congress will support the candidate named by its high command, but will not support anybody whose name is circulated by the TMC. Who is Mamata Banerjee to interfere in Congress’ matters?”
The Congress has also hinted at contesting the upcoming Panchayat elections in the state, “holding the hands of the CPM”. “The Congress-CPM alliance in the state is very much there and will remain intact. On Monday, I walked along with the CPIM leadership in their march; this speaks for itself about our support to the CPIM. We will also support Sitaram Yechury in the Rajya Sabha,” Mishra added. However, an angry Congress leader from the state said, “Mamata Banerjee is trying to give the impression that she will manage the Congress, for which she has also asked her people to go soft on the Congress here in Bengal. We are very much against this type of characterisation; she is taking advantage of the presidential election to say all such things. She is determined to finish the Congress here.”
Mamata Banerjee, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Friday, had met Gandhi earlier in the week as well. Banerjee also held a meeting with Opposition leaders to arrive at a consensus over a candidate for the Presidential election due next month. She also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday during her visit to the national capital.
“Mamata Banerjee is pretending to be friendly with the Congress at the Centre because that is her own compulsion as she wants to portray herself as anti-BJP. However, she also wants to keep the BJP in her good books because the Narada and Saradha scams are haunting her party and its senior leaders. She is trying to ride on two boats. However, this will not affect anything with the Congress here in Bengal,” Mishra said.