New Delhi, May 17, 2024— The Congress' Bengal chief, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, expressed skepticism on Thursday regarding Mamata Banerjee's commitment to the INDIA bloc. His comments came shortly before the West Bengal Chief Minister reaffirmed her membership in the opposition alliance, which she described as her "brainchild."
Banerjee had previously indicated that she would offer "outside support" to the bloc if it won the upcoming election. Chowdhury responded by stating, "I don't trust her... she left the alliance. She could also align with the BJP." He further remarked, "What she will do from outside or inside the alliance... I don't know. That you have to ask her. But I don't trust her. She left the alliance... she could even run to the BJP."
The relationship between Chowdhury and Banerjee has been notably strained. Banerjee recently emphasized that the INDIA alliance does not consider the Bengal Congress a part of its coalition. Chowdhury criticized Banerjee for not voicing her grievances about the bloc earlier, noting that her apparent reversal came after the opposition's significant gains in the Lok Sabha elections, suggesting a potential defeat for the ruling BJP. "They were talking about destroying Congress and that Congress would not get 40 seats... but now she is saying Congress and INDIA are coming to power," he said.
Earlier, Banerjee had suspended her membership in the bloc due to disputes over seat-sharing agreements. However, at a rally in Tamluk, she asserted that she remains an integral part of INDIA and will continue to support it. Despite this, she clarified that she does not view the state units of Congress and the CPM as allies, accusing them of unofficially joining forces with the BJP in Bengal.
This development follows Banerjee's resistance to conceding more seats to the Congress during the INDIA bloc's negotiations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Her steadfast approach has marked her as one of the group's more contentious members.
As the political landscape continues to evolve, the dynamics within the INDIA bloc and its relationship with key regional players like Banerjee remain critical to its strategy against the BJP in the forthcoming elections.
