Derek O'Brien and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Credit: PTI File Photos
New Delhi:A day after Mamata Banerjee announced that her party will not have any truck with the Congress in Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress on Thursday squarely blamed senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for the I.N.D.I.A alliance not working in West Bengal.
The party cited Chowdhury’s continuous attacks on Trinamool and its chief Mamata and his party’s inaction in reigning in him for the split even as its leaders stayed away from attacking the Congress or its top leaders for the impasse.
“The three reasons for the I.N.D.I.A alliance not working are 1) Adhir 2) Adhir and 3) Adhir…Adhir is the gravedigger of his own party,” Trinamool Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien said.
He insisted that they have “turned the page” on the alliance but refused to spell out whether it has exited I.N.D.I.A, while saying that if the Congress do their job in the Lok Sabha elections by defeating the BJP in the substantial number of 300 seats which they contest, Trinamoool could back it.
When asked, Chowdhury told reporters, "Derek O'Brien is a foreigner, he knows a lot of things. Ask him."
O’Brien also said that the Congress should accept the electoral reality in Bengal where it cannot “even be a spoiler”, as it got less than 4% votes except two they contested.
Launching a scathing attack on Chowdhury, he said the I.N.D.I.A had “many detractors” but “only two – the BJP and Chowdhury – “repeatedly spoke out against” the alliance. “The voice is his but the words are those of the duo (Narendra Modi-Amit Shah) in Delhi,” he alleged.
While the Congress central leadership is keen on an electoral alliance with Trinamool, Chowdhury, a vehement Mamata critic, is against it and wants an understanding with the Left Front. He has continuously attacked Mamata and Trinamool over the years.
O’Brien claimed that Chowdhury has spoken the language of the BJP for the past two years and not once has he raised the issue of Bengal being deprived of central funds. He even endorses the ED’s actions in Bengal when they are against the Trinamool, he said.
“He holds press conferences to belittle Mamata-di and barely speaks against any BJP leader. His primary target is Mamata Banerjee…Not a single Trinamool MP, minister or MLA said anything against the Congress while it has been a daily exercise for Adhir…Adhir is not just Bengal Congress president, he is their Lok Sabha leader,” he said.
Asked about chances of reconciliation, he said, “We stuck to the principles and grammar of the alliance…we have turned the page. We cannot wait.”
He said Trinamool has shown “patience and grace” since May last year when the first meeting of the bloc took place in Patna but there was no forward movement on seat sharing even after Mamata highlighted it in the December 19 meeting.
Trinamool had raised the “Adhir problem” with the Congress leadership for several months but nothing happened, he said. Trinamool sources also highlighted Deepa Dasmunsi’s remarks on Wednesday that Mamata is an “agent of the BJP”, saying one should not forget that she is a Congress Working Committee member.