At a time when Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh slammed Trinamool Congress (TMC) for poaching lone Congress MLA Bayron Biswas, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that nationally all the opposition parties are ‘together’.
Opposition parties united
“All oppositions are together nationally. In state the party has its own obligations. TMC had just contested in Meghalaya and Goa. But we have supported Congress when they had contested in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Why only Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be the national party? My party has national status till 2026, but the Election Commission reviewed and canceled the status before,” said Mamata.
It is pertinent to mention that following the defection of Left Front supported only Congress MLA in West Bengal to TMC on Monday, speculations were being made about the all opposition party meeting at Patna on June 12 where TMC and Congress are also likely to participate. Mamata, however, mentioned that she had learnt about the defection from the media. Talking to the media, the West Bengal chief minister confirmed that she will attend the meeting at Patna.
Congress leader poached
Taking to Twitter earlier on Tuesday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “Three months after he was elected as a Congress MLA in a historic victory, Bayron Biswas has been lured away by the TMC in West Bengal. This is a complete betrayal of the mandate of the people of the Sagardighi Assembly constituency. Such poaching which has happened earlier in Goa, Meghalaya, Tripura and other states is not designed to strengthen Opposition unity and only serves the BJP’s objectives.”
This is all BJP's playstyle
State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, however, claimed that TMC is ‘working at the behest of BJP’. “No one should be surprised if ever BJP’s projected Chief Minister’s face becomes Abhishek Banerjee. Ahead of 2024 elections BJP is again playing with NRC and TMC also will try to seek votes by befooling the minorities,” said Chowdhury.
Taking dig at the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Mamata said that he had visited Manipur after several lives were lost. “On Monday I had written a letter to the Home Ministry seeking permission to visit Manipur for a day. After I wrote the letter the Home Minister went to Manipur. We all are waiting to know the death toll. But I don’t think Amit Shah will meet the peace loving people of Manipur,” further mentioned Mamata.
The West Bengal chief minister also claimed that she will support whatever stand is taken by the wrestlers in the national capital.
