The Trinamool Congress has no intention of joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, party MP Kunal Ghosh said on Wednesday.
“There are some who are trying to create confusion that the Trinamool will join the NDA. This is baseless and politically motivated,” Mr. Ghosh, considered close to party chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, told a private television channel, of which he is the CEO.
“The Trinamool is stating clearly that it has no friendship or understanding with the BJP or the NDA.”
Hinting that the Congress, “that has always resorted to opportunistic politics,” was among those which were behind spreading word that Ms. Banerjee was in touch with the NDA, Mr. Ghosh said attempts were on “by those afraid” of the struggle launched by her, in a bid to discredit her campaign.
The Congress, which had used Ms. Banerjee to defeat the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal, was now worried about her growing popularity at the national level, he said.
The presence of Janata Dal (United) chief and NDA convener Sharad Yadav at the October 1 protest rally organised by Ms. Banerjee in New Delhi was being cited as evidence of the Trinamool warming up to the NDA. But Mr. Yadav himself clearly said his joining the rally was a purely personal decision and not done at the behest of any party or alliance, Mr. Ghosh pointed out.
Ms. Banerjee was engaged in a “secular, democratic struggle and many are afraid of this… In a manner that is pre-planned, they are out to turn secular forces against her…” The Trinamool was working towards an “alternative federal front.”
