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‘I’m very modest': Chidambaram after TMC claims he refused alliance ahead of Goa polls
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that Congress leader P Chidambaram is not telling the truth regarding never getting an offer of alliance from the Mamata Banerjee-led camp. He added that Chidambaran should publicly “take the blame” if the BJP wins Goa assembly elections.
Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday called himself “very modest” and refused to comment on the allegations by the national general secretary of Trinamool Congress (TMC) Abhishek Banerjee regarding a failed alliance between the two parties ahead of the Goa assembly elections.
“I don't enter in verbal exchanges with general secretaries of other parties. I'm a very modest Congress worker,” he told news agency ANI.
His statements come after Abhishek on Thursday blamed the veteran Congress leader of “misleading people” and also stated that if the Goa polls are won by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chidambaram should publicly "take the blame."
The TMC has been at loggerheads with the Congress party for several months, especially with the former's supremo Mamata Banerjee eyeing to strengthen its roots outside of West Bengal. The upcoming Goa elections will be the first time the TMC will be trying their hands at, and they have roped in several prominent names, including former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro and Tennis star Leander Paes.
During Thursday's press conference, Abhishek, who is also Mamata's nephew, slammed Chidambaram for misguiding the people of Goa “to serve the interest of his party.” He added that despite having “highest regard” for the Congress veteran, the way he has been misleading people for his own interest is something which “should be exposed and brought to the public domain.”
Abhishek alleged that Chidambaram is not telling the truth about the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) never making an offer of alliance to the Congress. “Pavan Varma put…in the public domain that being the national vice-president of AITC , he went to Chidambaram's house in December at 1.30 pm,” Abhishek added during the press briefing.
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Mamata's nephew further stated that the TMC has come to Goa to rid the coastal state of its “traitors” who are solely concerned about their “vested interests” and not the public interest at large. He pointed out that the Mamata-led party is the only of its kind to not break before the BJP, taking the saffron camp's “might, valour and juggernaut head-on.”
On Friday, Varma too took a jibe at Chidambaram by echoing Abhishek. He said that he went to the Congress leader's house on December 24 with the proposal of an alliance between the TMC and the grand old party, aimed at “removing the divisive BJP from the state.”
“I sat with him for one hour with a concrete plan, but he failed to respond. Both Chidambaram and Rahul Gandhi failed to rise above their narrow politics and vision even for the sake of Goans,” Varma was quoted as saying by ANI.
The TMC has teamed up with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) for the forthcoming Goa polls. It has so far released two lists of 18 candidates for the 40-member state assembly, with the second list announced during the day. Former chief ministers Churchill Alemão and Faleiro have been fielded from Benaulim and Fatorda constituencies.
Goa is slated to go into polls on February 14, and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
