A day after Mallikarjun Kharge insisted that Congress will lead a united Opposition bloc against the BJP, Congress and Trinamool Congress top leaders on Wednesday were at each other's throat levelling allegations of helping the BJP, spreading violence and indulging in corruption and advice to revisit politics of vanity.
Top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee targeted each other's parties during the election campaign in Meghalaya.
While Rahul accused the Trinamool Congress of strengthening the BJP by contesting against Congress, Mamata asked what moral right Congress has to seek votes as it was not an effective opposition in the state. Abishek countered Rahul saying the Congress has "failed to resist" the BJP and its "irrelevance, incompetence and insecurity has put them in a state of delirium".
The attack and counter-attack by two prominent Opposition parties come at a time the Congress is heading to Raipur for its 85th Plenary Session where the party is likely to shape up its stand on Opposition unity. On Tuesday, Kharge said in Nagaland that an alliance government will come to power in 2024 with Congress in the lead and his party was in talks with others on how to win the Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing an election rally in Shillong, Rahul was scathing in his attack on the Trinamool Congress as he said people are aware of the "history" of the Mamata-led party in West Bengal.
"You know the violence that takes place in West Bengal. You know about the scams like the Sarada scam that has taken place. So you are aware of their tradition. They came to Goa, spent huge amounts of money in Goa. The idea was to help the BJP. This is exactly their idea in Meghalaya. Trinamool Congress' idea in Meghalaya is to ensure the BJP is strengthened and they come to power," he said.
Addressing a campaign meeting in Meghalaya's Rajabala in Garo Hills, Mamata accused the Congress of failing to fulfil their duty as Opposition. "Congress is asking for votes but where is their moral right? I was in Congress but they expelled us from the party. We are fighting the battle against BJP and every day BJP is knocking at our doors with ED-CBI.”
"Congress was in power here in Meghalaya for a long time but they failed to deliver. Trinamool Congress is the alternative for people of Meghalaya as all other parties betrayed them. Trinamool will change the government in Meghalaya and we will remove BJP from the Centre soon," she said.
As Rahul's statement triggered a storm, Abhishek took to Twitter, "Congress has failed to resist the BJP. Their irrelevance, incompetence and insecurity has put them in a state of delirium. I urge Rahul Gandhi to revisit their politics of vanity instead of attacking us. Our growth isn’t driven by money, it is people’s love that propels us."
Rebutting the Congress leader's remark that the Trinamool Congress was helping the BJP by contesting against Congress, he said, "by the same logic, when Congress contested 92 seats in Bengal elections in 2021, was their idea to help the BJP? Rahul Gandhi's statements against Trinamool Congress are pretty rich, especially coming from a party that has lost 40 out of the last 45 Assembly elections in India."
In the 2018 Assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress did not win a single seat but became the principal Opposition party in November 2021 when 12 Congress MLAs led by former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma joined it.
The Trinamool Congress has fielded 57 candidates out of 60 seats with a target to wrest power from the National People's Party and its allies. The NPP led by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma is also contesting 57 seats with a target of an absolute majority. BJP, which was a minor ally in the NPP-led government with two MLAs, however, has put up candidates in all 60 seats. BJP is also making corruption allegations against the NPP.
In 2018, Congress had emerged as the single largest party with 21 seats but could not form an alliance. The party saw an exodus of all the MLAs since then and most of them joined TMC. Shillong MP, Vincent Pala is now the only prominent leader in the Congress camp. The party, however, has put up candidates in all 60 seats this time, out of which 47 are below 40 and are new faces.