The Bengal unit of the Congress attacked Trinamul and its supremo Mamata Banerjee on a day the grand old party’s victory in Karnataka gave anti-BJP forces a reason to cheer in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury led the attack on Trinamul on Saturday even as some in the party questioned if it was prudent when efforts were on to unite all non-BJP parties.

“Karnataka results have proved that Congress is the only power that can root out the BJP from the country.... It is also proven that there will be no one (party) between the BJP and the Congress. I can assure you that the Trinamul Congress would just vaporise (from the anti-BJP picture),” Chowdhury told reporters on Saturday.

“There will be two forces — the BJP as the communal force and Congress as the secular and liberal alternative," he said, asking "Bengal's people" to choose the Congress.

Chowdhury, known for being critical of Trinamul, especially Mamata, asked why she and her party dithered about joining the anti-BJP alliance while referring to the vice-presidential polls in which Trinamul abstained from voting.

Mamata and her nephew Abhishek, also Trinamul’s national general secretary, did not credit the Congress or Rahul Gandhi in their comments on the Karnataka polls, angering Chowdhury.

“Didi always spoke against the Congress and Rahul Gandhi and questioned our ability to take on the BJP.... Now the party (Trinamul) has lost its national status. I can tell you that in the near future, Trinamul will turn into a local or rural party,” said Chowdhury.

Mamata, till recently, was critical of Rahul and spoke of equidistance from the BJP and the Congress. In March, she dubbed Rahul “the BJP’s best TRP.” But that stance softened somewhat after Rahul was disqualified as an MP in April.

In her recent public meetings in Malda and Murshidabad where Congress still wields influence, she spoke about her 1:1 formula or pitting the strongest anti-BJP candidate against the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

By that logic, the Congress should fight the BJP in some Malda and Murshidabad seats, said a Congress veteran who took a moderate stance. “Instead of preparing the ground for a united fight, if we make her antagonistic, it’s a wrong move,” he said.

Chowdhury, however, was scathing. “If Didi is the real anti-BJP face, then why did not she urge Karnataka’s people to vote against the BJP?” he asked.

Abhishek retorted sharply to the barbs. “If Adhir Chowdhury attacks Mamata Banerjee, it means he is benefiting the BJP. We could have gone to Karnataka and asked people to vote for neither the BJP nor the Congress. We did not as we believe the Congress is a powerful force in Karnataka....,” he said on the sidelines of his event in East Burdwan.