‘Congress’ central leaders going soft on TMC demoralises our cadres in the state’.
Asection of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress is miffed with the central leadership of the Congress due to its “soft stand” towards the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its leader Mamata Banerjee whom they have been fighting in the state.
On the condition of anonymity, a senior Congress leader from West Bengal told The Sunday Guardian, “In West Bengal, we have been fighting tooth and nail against the TMC, while our central leaders are dining with its leader Mamata Banerjee in Delhi. This is not a stand that the West Bengal Congress would like to see from the central leadership. This demoralises our cadres in the state as they are being beaten up by the ruling TMC.”
The Congress in West Bengal has time and again expressed its unhappiness towards such an attitude of its central leadership. Recently, expressing unhappiness over senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi representing the TMC in some cases, the Congress in Bengal also expressed its dissatisfaction on the issue of sending Singhvi to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal with the support of TMC.
The Congress and the CPM, that fought the 2016 Assembly elections together, were working towards sending an independent candidate to the Rajya Sabha from the state, but even before that, Mamata Banerjee announced her support for Singhvi as a candidate for the seat to the Upper House from the state, and that caught many leaders of the Congress from Bengal offguard.
Even earlier, according to sources, the TMC had extended its support for the candidature of senior Congress leader and daughter of former President of India, Sharmistha Mukherjee to the Rajya Sabha, which even then was openly turned down by the Bengal Pradesh Congress.
“The leadership of Bengal cannot be insulted like this in front of the TMC. We cannot go soft on the TMC at a time when they are poaching on our leaders. The central leadership might be having some equation with the TMC leaders at the national level to keep the BJP, both at the Centre and in the state, at bay, but they will have to take into account the concerns of the particular state leaderships,” the senior Congress leader said.
The Bengal Congress, which has been shrinking in the state after facing one poll debacle after another, pins the blame on the “intolerant” politics of the TMC.
According to highly placed sources within the Congress in Bengal, even the state’s Congress president, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary is unhappy with the central Congress leadership, and if sources are to be believed, Choudhary is even looking towards deserting the Congress and look for greener pastures. According to sources, Choudhary has been in talks with leaders from other parties. However, the source did not disclose the name of the party and the leadership that Choudhury has been in touch with. Even earlier, during 2017, Choudhary had almost made up his mind to desert his association with the grand old party in Bengal, but after he was pacfied by by the leadership in the state, and was later elected as the Pradesh Congress president from Bengal for a second term.
A source close to the top leadership of the Congress in Bengal told this correspondent, “Adhir Choudhary is not happy with the central Congress leaders. He has communicated his displeasure and the party’s stand several times to the Congress high command. If this continues, he will not stay in such a party that does not take into account the concerns of its state leaders. A party that has almost destroyed the Congress in the state and has destroyed Choudhary in his own bastion in Murshidabad district cannot be compromised with.”
Sources also indicated that if Choudhary decides to leave the party, he would also take along a section of his large support base to whichever party he joins, further damaging the Congress in West Bengal.