The strained relationship between Mamata Banerjeeโs Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Congress took a further beating as the former launched a no-holds-barred attack on the latter in the run-up to the upcoming Meghalaya assembly election.
Hours after former Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused TMC of aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is part of the ruling coalition in Meghalaya, the partyโs national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that Congressโ โirrelevance, incompetence and insecurity has put them in a state of deliriumโ.
He suggested the Gandhi scion โrevisit their politics of vanity instead of attacking us (TMC)โ.
โOur growth isnโt driven by money. It is peopleโs love that propels us. By the same logic, was it the Congressโs intention to help the BJP by contesting 92 seats in the Bengal elections in 2021?โ Banerjee questioned the logic behind Gandhiโs allegations that TMC helped the BJP by dividing votes when they contested elections in Goa.
TMC RS MP Derek OโBrien also hits out at Congress. โIn March 2022, the people of Goa elected 11 MLAs who contested on a Congress ticket. In less than a year, eight of those MLAs have joined the BJP. Who is helping whom?โ he asked.
The relationship between Congress and TMC is always blowing hot and cold. On a more local level, Congress has an axe to grind with TMC after 12 of the 17 MLAs, including former CM Mukul Sangma, left the party to join TMC.
The move was seen as a huge blow to Congress, as they lost the main opposition partyโs tag. The move was also seen as a significant boost for TMCโs efforts to establish a pan-India presence.
While they suffered a poor showing in Goa, TMC is now banking on estranged leaders like Sangma to make their presence felt, at least in the northeastern states.
On Wednesday, February 22, Gandhi made a direct attack on TMC during his speech at a public meeting in Meghalayaโs Shillong.
โYou know the history of the TMC, you also know about the violence that happened in Bengal. They went to Goa and spent a lot of money because their idea was to help the BJP. In Meghalaya, it must be ensured that the BJP does not come to power,โ he had said during the partyโs election campaign in the state that will go to poll on February 27.
