Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said Mamata Banerjee’s announcement to fight the Lok Sabha polls solo in Bengal was uncalled for and fighting the RSS-BJP parivar should be the sole goal of all INDIA constituents.
“Negotiations are underway. We never slammed the doors shut from our end. We made no one-sided announcement, that we want five seats or 10… not the case. The dialogue is on. The discussions are taking place… what does that mean? That we are speaking honestly. That we are talking face to face, in front of each other,” said Ramesh, the Congress’s communications chief, who is part of Rahul Gandhi’s entourage in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
Ramesh’s statement showed that the Congress high command’s seemingly infinite patience with Mamata could be beginning to wear thin.
Before she hardened her stand, Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata was willing to leave up to four seats, if the Congress asked nicely, said sources in her party. But the Congress fancies its chances in nine-10 Bengal seats.
“Then suddenly, one party standing up to say that ‘we have stopped talking, and we will fight all 42 (Bengal) seats’, that is not right,” Ramesh said, quoting the Bengal chief minister.
In addition to the unilateral declaration of going it alone, she also wondered aloud whether the Congress would be able to win even 40 Lok Sabha seats if it contested in the 300-seat ceiling she had set for the Grand Old Party for direct fights with the BJP.
Ramesh said fighting the RSS-BJP parivar should be the only priority of all INDIA constituents.
“This Bengal politics, the politics of the Assembly, we have to elevate ourselves a little above all that and see the Lok Sabha elections,” said Ramesh.
“INDIA was made for the general election. In INDIA, we are there, Mamataji is there, the Left parties are there… 27 parties are in it. So, we should not be seeing this from the Assembly elections’ perspective, only the perspective of the general election.”
Ramesh declined to comment on Trinamul’s grouse with Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress’s Bengal unit chief and its leader in the Lok Sabha, who is often more belligerent towards Mamata than the BJP.
Trinamul responded bitterly. “They should first showcause Adhir Chowdhury or throw him out…. He should be gagged from echoing the BJP. We cannot be taking both sides, contradicting each other, seriously,” said Trinamul’s state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar.
The Congress’s chief spokesperson in Bengal, Soumya Aich Roy, known for his proximity to Chowdhury, said Trinamul had thrived on the destruction of his party in Bengal and the state unit had known her “real intentions” all along.
“We don’t know if the likes of Jairambabu were aware of Trinamul’s inability to genuinely fight the good fight against the BJP. We certainly did. Trinamul is the BJP’s Trojan horse, indubitably, and should never be trusted,” he said.