Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Saayoni Ghosh on Saturday said the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC allying with the Indian National Congress under leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, would send a “powerful message.”
Speaking to ANI news agency, Ghosh said that such a move would prove that the TMC-Congress alliance is “genuine” and not just “in name.”
“Regarding the Congress leader who became a candidate— as far as I knew until yesterday, there were some pending cases against him. After the ECI barred Banerjeefrom using the name and symbol of the party she founded, Opposition leaders criticised the decision. “We are in this together.
Ghosh was among the 20 rebel TMC parliamentarians who merged with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) in June. Ghosh’s remarks come even as the Nandigram bypoll, scheduled on October 6, has triggered a political storm in West Bengal, with Congress candidate Milan Pradhan arrested in connection with an old murder case.
Speaking to reporters in Kolkata on Rahul Gandhi’s remarks, Ghosh said, “I would hope that, under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, the Congress aligns with the TMC. On the arrest of the Congress candidate from Nandigram, Ghosh said she was aware of the pending cases against him, adding that it was a “matter between two political parties. This is politics, and in politics, one has to consider what decisions might be taken or actions initiated prior to an election,” the MP said. Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi reached out to Banerjee to express solidarity, while the latter said Congress and her party were ready to work together against the central government. We want BJP to be removed,’’ Banerjee said about her conversation with Gandhi, and extended support to Congress candidate Pradhan. Gandhi, who reportedly told the former chief minister that his party was ready to extend any assistance required, later led his party’s attack on the Election Commission.
He added, “The BJP has no faith in fair elections—that’s why it wants to cling to power sometimes through vote theft, sometimes through stealing governments, and sometimes through stealing parties. They don’t want to contest elections; they want to end the electoral fight altogether.
Gandhi said the Congress will “neither fear nor bow down”, adding that it would “fight” and “win” the electoral battle/
