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Abhishek steers clear of making critical remarks on Congress, left
Even though both the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had attacked the TMC in an assembly bypoll rally the previous day
Kolkata Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee did not make any critical comments against the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at a public event on Saturday even though both parties had attacked the TMC in an assembly bypoll rally the previous day -- a move seen as an attempt to not get into a public slanging match with other members of the INDIA alliance.
On Friday, in an indication that uniting parties fundamentally opposed to each other was not an easy task, Bengal Congress chief Chowdhury and CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim called the ruling TMC their “enemy”.
But, on Saturday, Banerjee while addressing a rally for the September 5 Dhupguri assembly bypoll, opted to ignore the remarks, and attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) instead.
“The Centre reduced the price of LPG cylinders by ₹200 out of fear. People in every state are rising against the BJP. The party will lose all the upcoming state elections. If the INDIA alliance wins the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the price of LPG cylinders will be brought down to ₹500 in West Bengal,” Banerjee said.
The Lok Sabha MP from Diamond Harbour also promised that Dhupguri would be made an administrative sub-division by December 31, an old demand of the people of the assembly constituency in north Bengal.
The bypoll has been necessitated after the death of BJP legislator Bishnu Pada Roy on July 25. The assembly seat is reserved for the scheduled caste community.
The north Bengal region has emerged as a BJP stronghold since 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when the party won 18 of the state’s 42 seats, its best tally in the eastern state. In north Bengal alone, BJP won seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats. Two years later in the 2021 assembly polls, though the BJP managed only 75 of the 294 seats, but had an impressive showing in north Bengal, where it won 30 of the 54 seats.
“It is time local people understood the difference between TMC and BJP. We did not win elections here but people continued to enjoy the benefits of Mamata Banerjee’s welfare schemes,” Banerjee said. “On the other hand, the Centre stopped sending funds to Bengal under important heads such as rural housing scheme after the BJP lost the 2021 assembly polls. We keep our promises; they don’t.”
Though CPI(M) is part of the INDIA alliance, its central committee has allowed the Bengal unit to contest against TMC in 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party has also fielded its candidate against TMC’s Nirmal Chandra Roy, a history professor, for the Dhupguri bypoll.
On Saturday, the CPI(M) again attacked Banerjee. “Mamata Banerjee is the chief minister and Abhishek is her nephew. How can a person who has no administrative jurisdiction promise to form a subdivision and even announce a deadline? Administrative decisions are taken on political platforms during TMC regime,” said Sujan Chakraborty, CPI(M) central committee member.
All three candidates in the fray for the bypoll belong to Rajbangshi community, which constitutes a sizeable section of the region’s population.
The BJP has fielded Tapasi Roy, widow of Jagannath Roy, the Central Armed Police Force (CRPF) jawan who was among the 40 soldiers killed in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. The Congress has left the seat for the CPI(M), which has nominated Ishwar Chandra Roy, a retired schoolteacher, as its candidate for the bypoll.
