Kolkata: A series of high-level meetings between Congress and Trinamool Congress leaders has triggered a sharp divide within the grand old party, even as both sides moved swiftly to quell speculation over an imminent merger.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi met TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in a closed-door session at her 10 Janpath residence on Tuesday, setting off a wave of speculation in political circles. The following day, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee met Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi at the same address.
Reports claimed that Sonia Gandhi had offered Mamata Banerjee the post of Congress national vice-president and Abhishek Banerjee the role of general secretary, with the TMC supremo allegedly seeking a week to consider the proposal. Neither party confirmed the claims.
TMC sources on Wednesday dismissed talk of a merger, saying no such proposal had been discussed at any stage. “The INDIA bloc is united and will work strongly together,” sources quoted Mamata Banerjee as telling Sonia Gandhi. The focus, the TMC maintained, was on ensuring that Opposition parties worked more effectively against the BJP.
The denials have done little to quell debate within the Congress, particularly in its Bengal unit, which has long chafed at any rapprochement with the TMC, a party it directly contests against in West Bengal. The two parties were alliance partners in the 2011 Bengal Assembly elections but had a bitter fallout thereafter.
Former West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a vocal critic of Mamata Banerjee, categorically said: “We have not forgotten how Mamata treated the Congress leadership and tortured Congress workers when she was in power. Honest lower-level TMC workers are welcome to join the Congress, but the Mamata-Abhishek duo are definitely not okay.”
Current PCC chief Subhankar Sarkar struck a less hawkish note. “Politics is the art of the impossible. But whoever wants to join the Congress has to accept the leadership of Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
The meetings come against the backdrop of a rapidly deepening crisis within the TMC. About 20 Lok Sabha MPs have rebelled, with a faction formally requesting separate seating from the Lok Sabha Speaker. Some rebel MPs have also been seen meeting BJP leaders.
Meanwhile, expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, backed by 64 West Bengal Assembly members, categorically ruled out any alignment with the Congress. “We have the support of 64 out of 80 MLAs. So, we are the real TMC. TMC is not merging with the Congress,” he said.
