Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday brought to the fore a rift between him and the Congress high command by calling out the party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge and its Bengal minder Ghulam Ahmad Mir over the treatment accorded to him as the outgoing chief of the state unit.

The former Baharampur MP — who lost this time to Trinamool’s Yusuf Pathan after five consecutive victories from the seat — issued a statement claiming he was unaware of the high command’s decision to accept a resignation he had submitted till he was
referred to as the “former” Pradesh Congress Committee president at a meeting
on Monday.

“I had offered my resignation to Khargeji (after the June 4 results), to which he had asked me to come to Delhi for a discussion. Accordingly, I had gone to attend the meeting,” said Chowdhury.

“There, I saw I was being referred to as the former president. I was not even aware my resignation was accepted,” added the former MP, whose resistance to any truck with Mamata Banerjee in Bengal was instrumental in her decision to go it alone in the state.

Since his defeat and the electoral debacles of the Congress in Bengal, questions have been raised about Chowdhury’s political future.

An analysis of the poll data suggests that a united fight by the INDIA bloc in Bengal would have cost the BJP at least six Lok Sabha seats out of the 12 it won here.

“I have no desire for any post,” said Chowdhury, who was also the leader of the Congress in the 17th Lok Sabha and a thorn in the side of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Mamata.

“I will be on the streets with all my colleagues, in movements. I have not learned to compromise with injustice, and will not do so in the future,” he added.

Chowdhury also brought up a mid-May tiff with Kharge when the Congress chief had publicly snubbed him and disowned his remark that Mamata was untrustworthy and could end up siding with the BJP.

After Kharge had seemingly threatened Chowdhury with punitive action by the high command, the latter had reminded him that he too was part of it as an AICC and
CWC member.

“When the elections were on, Khargeji said on TV that if necessary, I would be kept out, which got me upset. I had told the supreme leadership that if they wanted alliance parleys with the Trinamool, they should appoint someone else as state president. Then, the results were poor in Bengal. I had offered my resignation,” said Chowdhury, a day after the Congress’s general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal held a meeting with the Bengal leadership and discussed several issues, including ties with the Trinamool.

“But I knew going in that this meeting was convened with me as the president... Only when Mir referred to me as the former president did I realise that I am no longer the president,” he added. “I am not sure if he (Mir) even knows the state.”

On Tuesday, Mir said Chowdhury had resigned as the state unit chief after the Lok Sabha polls and the process to appoint a new chief was under way.

“Since he (Chowdhury) was in that briefing, I informed everyone that you should know that Adhir Ranjanji, after the elections, had tendered his resignation,”
he said.

“This is the truth, that he had given his resignation. Since he had given his resignation... he is a former (state unit chief),” Mir added.

There has been speculation for weeks over who might be chosen to succeed Chowdhury, with the balance skewed in favour of a veteran not opposed to Mamata as aggressively as Chowdhury.

Asked if Chowdhury’s resignation had been accepted, Mir said only Kharge’s office could confirm that.

“The process is on. We met some leaders who expressed their opinion on the available leadership who can run the party better... It (picking a new Bengal unit chief) will be done as soon as possible,” he said.

However, despite it all, Chowdhury remained firm in his resistance to Mamata.

“Trinamool did not stop oppressing us after joining INDIA,” he said.

“Then how can I keep quiet against Trinamool? If I do so, it will be unjust to my colleagues who get beaten up and framed every single day in the state. I cannot do so,” he added.

“Delhi should also talk to the workers who have been fighting it out here, against the Trinamool’s oppression. Their views also need to be known, they too should be called
to Delhi.”