Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi trained his guns at Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) and alleged that the West Bengal CM is working in tandem with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Gandhi was addressing a public meeting in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong during the campaigning for his party in the upcoming state assembly election. Meghalaya is scheduled to hold the election on February 27.
Gandhi alleged that the TMC, which replaced Congress as the main opposition party in Meghalaya, spent more money in the Goa Assembly polls last year to help the ruling BJP.
Coming down heavily on the TMC, he said on Wednesday, February 22, “You know the history of the TMC, you also know about the violence that happened in Bengal.”
Alleging TMC of dividing the votes in favour of the BJP, Gandhi said, “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.”
The Congress leader’s remarks came at a time when most of the opposition parties are trying to unite against the BJP ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Last year, several Congress MLAs, including former CM Mukul Sangma, deserted the party to join the TMC. It was a big blow to the dwindling fortunes of the Grand Old Party in the state as it lost the title of the main opposition party in the 60-member state Assembly.
Meanwhile, attacking the central government, Gandhi also alleged that his speeches are not visible in the media while those made by Prime minister Narendra Modi are widely covered.
“You notice that PM Modi is all over the television when he gives his speech but my speech, made in the Parliament, is nowhere to be seen. My speech is not visible in the media as the media is controlled by two to three big industrialists who have links with PM Modi. We can’t even express ourselves in the media anymore,” he alleged.
“In Parliament, I asked the Prime minister about his relationship with (businessman Gautam) Adani. I also showed a picture in which Adani and the Prime minister are sitting in Adani’s aircraft and Modi is relaxing as if it is his own house,” Gandhi said.
“Prime minister Modi did not answer a single question regarding it,” the Congress MP from Kerala’s Wayanad said.
He also questioned the silence of the Prime minister on the Adani issue following the controversial Hindenburg Research report, which caused a massive hit to the group’s share.
The Hindenburg report caused quite an uproar in Parliament during the first half of the budget session, with the opposition parties demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe or a Supreme Court-monitored probe.
He also said that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is ‘attacking’ all the states where the BJP is not in power. “Every single state is being attacked by the RSS. They want to impose their ideology and we will resist that,” Gandhi said.