Even a party like the Congress can get it on its patience.
“People looking for a “national” alternative based on poaching INC (Congress party) functionaries who can’t win even their own seats is in for a big disappointment,” came a tweet from Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
Yes, notwithstanding the facade of ‘sickularism’, the target of the micro blogging site posting has been Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress.
The West Bengal-based ‘outfit’ was snubbed by Delhi crowd in 2013 at Ram Lilla Ground when empty chairs marred Mamata rally.
But some lessons are hardly learnt.
The ‘national ambition’ for 2024 has made Ms Banerjee and her party arrogant to an extent and also ‘ruthless’ and thus harming the Congress more.
Did PM Narendra Modi not promise – ‘Congress mukt Bharat’? Trinamool is helping out in all that !
Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says, Ms Baneree’s outfit is doing everything to help the Modi government ‘indirectly’. It is being argued that the cases against Abhishek Banerjee has irked the Pishimoni. Really so?
Thus, Congress Chief Minister Baghel’s tweet has a political significance. He further wrote – “Unfortunately, to become a national alternative deep-rooted and concerted efforts are needed and there are no quick- fix solutions”.
The Trinamool Congress has started poaching the Congress in Tripura, Assam, Goa and Meghalaya.
It thinks by weakening Congress, the Bengal outfit would capture ‘national space’ and emerge as a viable alternative to the BJP and Prime Minister Modi.
Incidentally, Baghel’s tweet came within hours ‘poll-strategist’ Prashant Kishor also had tweeted: “People looking for a quick, spontaneous revival of GOP led opposition based on Lakhimpur-Kheri incident are setting themselves up for a big disappointment”.
Unfortunately there are no quick fix solutions to the deep-rooted problems and structural weakness of GOP.”
And as they, drama has just begun.
Prashant Kishor is now said to be ‘close’ to Mamata and his missive was directed against the Congress, with whom he did a rather failed business in 2017.
Some Congress insiders say Mamata Banerjee has time and again made use of the Congress party and when her work was done, she has betrayed the grand old party and humiliated the top leaders.
She benefited in 2009 and joined the UPA-2, but quit the government triggering row over Manmohan Singh government’s FDI policy on retail.
“Mamata is nothing more than an opportunistic flying bird,” says a former Trinamool leader – who is now in the BJP.
Thus, from the Congress point of view perhaps – Mamata’s bluff should be called and she should not be given any mileage and soft-spot to “encash in 2024 at the cost of Congress party and its prestige”.
The Congress has their reasons to be annoyed with Mamata, as she has poached into Congress camp in Goa by taking Luizinho Faleiro.
Mamata’s party hardly exists in Goa, and she has done poaching of several Congress leaders in Tripura.
In Assam, the Trinamool Congress took away Sushmita Dev, the all-India Mahila Congress chief and who was seen as a trusted lieutenant of Rahul Gandhi.
But Mamata has taken her and also given the Rajya Sabha berth. That only means the ‘poaching’ is happening with a plan and applying ‘give and take’ formula.
Certain developments only force one to raise the eyebrows further. Even Rahul Gandhi has made some noise saying while his sister Priyanka was stopped
and arrested, a Trinamool delegation of five MPs including Mamata’s close aides Dola Sen and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar were allowed by the UP police to go to Lakhimpur Kheri.
