Signalling a dramatic shift from the hostility it has shown for the Congress, the Trinamool Congress has said that it was “happy” that the Congress was out “fighting on the streets” and hoped that Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra proves beneficial for the grand old party.
Recent remarks by leaders of the ruling party in West Bengal show a significant step down from the stand it has adopted for the Congress since the West Bengal Assembly elections held in 2021.
“We have always been in favour of the Congress coming out on the streets and fighting the BJP. If this Yatra helps the Congress, we will be happy,” Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told The Indian Express.
Samir Chakraborty, another TMC leader, admitted that Congress is the only challenger to the BJP in a large number of seats in the Lok Sabha. “The BJP has become powerful because the Congress failed to give it a close fight in those seats,” he said.
Notably, Trinamool Congress is among the 21 political parties which the Congress has invited to be part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra as it draws to a close in Srinagar on January 30. The party, however, is yet to comment on whether it will be part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The remarks follow an open endorsement of Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra by two Trinamool leaders. While Asansol MP Shatrughan Sinha termed the Yatra as “revolutionary” and “inspiring”, Barasat MLA Chiranjit Chakraborty drew parallels between Rahul and Vinoba Bhave’s march. “Vinobha Bhave walked. Rahul Gandhi is also walking. Everyone is trying to unite India,” he said.
The remarks have come as a dramatic shift in the stand of the TMC, which has been at odds with the Congress over the face of a probable united opposition to take on the BJP on a national level. In the aftermath of the 2021 Assembly elections, TMC mouthpiece Jago Bangla said the Congress was “in deep freezer” and its leadership “closeted in a room”, visible “only on Twitter”. The article further hailed Mamata Banerjee as the leader of any Opposition bloc to challenge the BJP.
“The country needs a coalition of Opposition forces. Opposition party leaders gave that responsibility to TMC leader (Mamata)… All Opposition forces are now looking to her,” it said.
Again in 2022, the TMC refused to ally with the Congress for the vice-presidential elections when the grand old party had fielded Margaret Alva as its candidate. This was after the Opposition had jointly backed Yashwant Sinha, a TMC pick, as their candidate for President.
