A DIVIDED I.N.D.I.A
On September 15, Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused the Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee of trying to chase two hares—allegedly maintaining a tacit relation with the BJP as well as trying to establish herself as one of the strongest players in the Opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). Chowdhury was speaking at a party event in Diamond Harbour, a constituency that Mamata’s nephew and Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee represents in the Lok Sabha.
“Mamata Banerjee needs to save her nephew. This is why she maintains her connections with the BJP. But she can now feel that the Congress is re-emerging across the country and that is why she has surrendered to our party by being an INDIA constituent. She is trying to catch both hares,” Chowdhury, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said amidst loud applause. Given the combative political history between the TMC and the Congress in Bengal, Chowdhury’s attack struck a chord with his followers, but stuck out like a sore thumb in the larger unity that opposition leaders are trying to forge.
Two days before Chowdhury’s outburst, on September 13, the coordination committee of INDIA— which met in New Delhi—expressed solidarity with Abhishek, who was interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate for over nine hours that day over his alleged role in the teachers’ recruitment scam. K.C. Venugopal, a Congress general secretary and member of the committee, read out a press statement which said that Abhishek couldn’t attend the meeting “due to a summons by the ED, arising out of the vendetta politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party”. The statement aligned with the claims of the TMC and Abhishek himself— also a committee member—that the summons and probe by the central agencies emerged out of a targeted attack by the BJP against the TMC.
MANY IN THE TMC THINK THE PARTY HAS A BETTER CHANCE TO DEFEAT THE BJP IN BENGAL IF THEY ARE NOT WITH THE CPI(M)
That stand of solidarity is in stark contrast to the one Chowdhury and the Bengal Congress have taken. Abhishek, the state Congress has alleged, is a beneficiary of several scams. Allegations of widespread corruption involving TMC leaders and the state administration have been persistent. Abhishek has earlier been summoned by central probe agencies in relation to the alleged coal and cattle smuggling scams.
However, conscious of the contrasting stands of the state and national units on the TMC, Chowdhury sounded defiant. “Our stand is clear. We have been fighting the TMC. We will continue to do so,” he said. When asked about the contours of the INDIA bloc in Bengal, he said, “I cannot answer such questions. I can’t foretell the future.”
The TMC is also the sworn enemy of the CPI(M)-led Left front, which is currently in an alliance with the Congress in Bengal. CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim has repeatedly snubbed any suggestions of the INDIA bloc being replicated in Bengal. “The INDIA bloc is fighting corruption, divisive politics, misuse of investigating agencies by the BJP. In Bengal, we are fighting the same issues, against both the BJP and the TMC. Every state has its own grammar. There can be no understanding with TMC,” says Salim.
In its two-day state committee meeting that concluded on September 13, the CPI(M) reiterated its position in Bengal. In fact, the CPI(M) plans to take out marches to the offices of the central probe agencies in Kolkata on October 5, demanding quick action in the corruption cases under
IN BENGAL, WE FIGHT THE SAME ISSUES AS THE INDIA BLOC, BUT AGAINST BOTH BJP AND TMC. THERE CAN BE NO UNDERSTANDING WITH THE TRINAMOOL CONGRESS
MOHAMMED SALIM
investigation. Most of the accused in these cases are linked to the TMC. On September 17, the CPI(M) politburo decided not to have a representative in the coordination panel of INDIA.
“The Opposition alliance is a basically larger movement. It shouldn’t have a political structure. What is the need of a coordination committee? This is why we are not sending our representative there,” a CPI(M) source said. However, other sources in the party said that the decision was taken after leaders from Bengal red-flagged the possibility of sharing a stage with Abhishek.
Such is the irony that on September 1, when Mamata was sharing the stage with CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in Mumbai for the INDIA bloc’s third meeting, Salim and Chowdhury were castigating her party at a joint rally in Dhupguri, in Jalpaiguri district, where a bypoll was held on September 5, for which the CPI(M) backed the Congress candidate.
Though the contradictory attitude of the state and national units of the Congress has irked Mamata, the TMC appears to believe that it has a better chance to defeat the BJP in Bengal without the help of the CPI(M). According to a TMC source, the result of the Dhupguri bypoll is proof of this.
In the results declared on September 8, Trinamool’s Nirmal Chandra Roy defeated the BJP’s Tapasi Roy by a margin of 4,309 votes and wrested the seat from the BJP, which it had won in the 2021 assembly polls.
“It was a tight contest. CPI(M) would have alienated its core base had it been an INDIA vs. BJP fight. Aggrieved CPI(M) voters, who don’t like the TMC, would have voted BJP en masse, ensuring its victory. This would be the case for the rest of Bengal as well. It is better that the status quo between us and the CPI(M) is maintained,” says the TMC source.
“The CPI(M) will never share seats with us in Bengal. It is up to the Congress to decide whether they wish to stay with a party that has stalled BJP’s juggernaut or with the Left, which couldn’t win a single parliamentary or assembly seat,” the source adds.
Officially, however, the TMC is wary of sounding too critical of its archrivals. TMC MP Derek O’Brien, who accompanied Mamata to each of the three meetings of the INDIA bloc, has said, “INDIA is an alliance of 28 parties. None of us are photocopies of each other. We believe in democracy. There will be differences...issues will be resolved through discussion.” On that hope will rest INDIA’s fair chances. ■
West Bengal State Secretary, CPI(M) OUR STAND IS CLEAR. WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING THE TMC. WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO. ABOUT THE INDIA BLOC IN BENGAL, I CAN’T FORETELL THE FUTURE
ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY President, West Bengal Congress