Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday launched a broadside against the BJP while being silent on the Trinamool Congress at an election rally in Malda.

The address has cemented the perception that the Congress leadership doesn’t want to make any move that ruffles Trinamool's feathers.

“(Narendra) Modiji has been attacking the Congress in all possible ways while forgetting that many Congressmen courted death to achieve India’s freedom. The RSS, Jana Sangh or the BJP had no role in the freedom struggle of the country," Kharge told a public meeting in Sujapur, Malda district.

“The Prime Minister makes tall talks but his guarantees fail. The guarantee to provide jobs to 20 lakh youths every year was a false one. The farmers were promised that their income would be doubled, which eventually turned out to be another fake promise,” added the Congress leader on the final day of the campaign in Malda.

In the district, elections will be held on May 7 in Malda Uttar and Malda Dakshin. The campaign in these two segments ended at 6pm on Sunday.

Kharge is the first prominent face of the national Congress to campaign in Bengal for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“That too a few hours before the campaign ended. Interestingly, he didn’t go to Murshidabad, which is the home turf of PCC president Adhir Ranjan Choudhury where elections would be held in two constituencies (Jangipur and Murshidabad), along with Malda. It seems the Grand Old Party is consciously restraining itself so that its equation with Trinamool isn't strained at the national level,” said a political veteran in Malda.

He recalled that when Rahul Gandhi was moving through Bengal during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in January, Rahul himself and senior leaders like Jairam Ramesh had maintained a soft stand on Mamata Banerjee’s party.

“State leaders like Adhir Ranjan Choudhury have always criticised Trinamool and its leaders. Mamata Banerjee has accused the Congress of acting as a ‘vote katua (vote cutter)' in Malda and North Dinajpur districts. But the AICC leaders never came up with any statement against Trinamool and today, the Congress president stuck to the same political line,” said the observer.