A day after the lone Congress MLA from West Bengal defected to the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Chief Minister and TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that all Opposition parties, including the Congress, were together at the national level and the defection of the Congress MLA was a local issue.
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“We are all together at the national level. At the State level, all the parties must understand that State parties have their own obligation,” Ms. Banerjee said when asked about the defection of Congress MLA Bayron Biswas to her party. On Monday. Mr. Biswas who was elected to State Assembly on March 2, 2023 joined the TMC.
While referring to Mr. Biswas’s defection, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that such poaching was not designed to strengthen Opposition unity and only served the BJP’s objectives.
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“Three months after he was elected as a Congress MLA in a historic victory, Bayron Biswas has been lured away by the TMC in West Bengal. This is a complete betrayal of the mandate of the people of the Sagardighi Assembly constituency. Such poaching which has happened earlier in Goa, Meghalaya, Tripura and other States is not designed to strengthen Opposition unity and only serves the BJP’s objectives,” Mr. Ramesh tweeted.
The TMC chairperson tried to downplay the remarks, thanked Mr. Ramesh and said that the party had put candidates in Assembly elections in only a few States, not all the States where Congress was contesting Assembly polls. “We have only contested Meghalaya and Goa. But when Congress contested Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh we were never disturbed. Instead of disturbing them we supported them,“ she told journalists at the State Secretariat
Ms. Banerjee, however, did not shy away from alleging that all parties in the Opposition in West Bengal were united against her.
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“That said, the ‘Ram (BJP) Baam (Left) Shyam (Congress)’ alliance will be there, and they will keep creating hurdles in the smooth functioning of our government. I will ask them to remain united, as I don’t think about them much,” she added.
The Chief Minister expressed her unhappiness over the Election Commission downgrading the national party status of her party and said that only the BJP and the Congress wanted to remain national parties. “We had national party status till 2026 but what the Election Commission did was not proper,” she said. The TMC chairperson said that she wanted her party to have a few MLAs in other States.
Ms. Banerjee confirmed that she would participate in the meeting of Opposition parties scheduled in Patna on June 12. “I told Nitish ji [Bihar CM Nitish Kumar] to hold a meeting of Opposition parties in Patna. He asked me a day before and I confirmed that I will be participating,” the Chief Minister said. She added that a few political parties wanted the meeting to be held in Delhi but since Jayaprakash Narayan had given a call from Bihar, it was decided to hold the meeting in Patna. Earlier this month, Mr. Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav had called on Ms. Banerjee in Kolkata where she had urged them to call a meeting of Opposition parties in Patna.
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Backs protesting wrestlers
The Chief Minister extended her support to the wrestlers who are staging protests in Delhi against chairman of Wrestling Federation of India and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Saran Singh who is accused of sexual harassment. The Chief Minister said that she spoke to the wrestlers over telephone and added that a rally would be held in Kolkata on Wednesday in support of the protesting wrestlers. The Chief Minister said that the State’s Sports Minister Arup Biswas and several sportspersons would participate in the rally.
Permission to visit Manipur
Ms. Banerjee also added that she has written to the Centre, seeking permission to visit Manipur where clashes between communities have claimed several lives. “I want to be with the people of Manipur … I have no intention to breach any protocol but wish to be with the peace-loving people of the State,” the Chief Minister said .
Even in the past, she had expressed her desire to visit the strife-torn Manipur. She also questioned the ‘delay’ in Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the State and added that violence was still continuing there.