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Kolkata:
Ties between the Congress and Trinamool Congress reached a new low
Monday with the Trinamool leadership terming its ally as a
"shameless party" which is not ready to quit the state ministry
despite being asked to do so, and the Congress retorting that
Trinamool was following the Marxists' path in indulging in campus
violence.
Taking the fight to the state secretariat for the first time, the
Congress added that the decision to leave the government will be
taken by its party high command and not by the Trinamool's
leadership.
On Saturday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had asked
partner Congress to walk out of the state combine, if it wanted.
On Monday, Trinamool leader and Rural and Panchayat Development
Minister Subrata Mukherjee added to the row, saying: "If they want
to stay with CPI-M they can go. We have already said the door is
open for them to go out, but still they have not left. They are so
shameless that even after being asked to leave, they are still in
the ministry."
"Some of them (Congress) are saying that the party does not exit
from back door. We are telling that all the doors are open for
them to go out," added Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee,
another Trinamool leader.
Chatterjee said the Congress has to clarify whether they are with
the Marxists or with the Trinamool.
"They are now shedding tears for the farmers. What were they doing
for the last few years when we were fighting for the people on the
issue of Nandigram, and Singur. Mamata Banerjee had fought all
alone," he said while addressing a public rally of Trinamool Youth
Congress - the youth wing of the party.
The Trinamool is running an alliance in the state with the
Congress - though it is not dependent on the party, and has
repeatedly reminded the Congress leadership in Delhi to follow its
dictum or face the consequences.
"If they have the guts why don't they leave the ministry and seek
re-election without using the name of Mamata Banerjee," said
Chatterjee.
Congress leader, Manoj Chakraborty, who is minister of state for
parliamentary affairs, retorted: "Whether we will leave the state
cabinet or not, it will be decided by our party high command. The
day our high command asks us to leave the ministry, we will leave
this ministry. We have not got ministries because of somebody's
wish or help. We have got ministries because of Congress high
command."
Chakraborty reminded the Trinamool that the people of Bengal had
voted in favour of the Congress-Trinamool alliance and not in
favour of Trinamool exclusively.
"The condemnable incident which happened in Raiganj College will
take a heavy toll on the image of the government. The 'Raj Dharma'
should be performed impartially. The Trinamool is following the
same path of Communist Party of India-Marxist," he said.
The state government has faced immense criticism for taking dual
approach in dealing with two incidents of campus violence in the
state. Both opposition and the Congress had accused Trinamool of a
"partisan approach" in dealing with the incidents as students'
affiliated to Trinamool were involved in one incident and
student's affiliated to CPI-M were involved in another incident.
Trinamool leader and Union Minister of State for Health Sudip
Bandopadhay also joined in the slanging match.
"They (Congress) should not forget that they don't have simple
majority in Lok Sabha," Bandopadhay said.
The alliance had taken an ugly shape in last few days over
Congress leaders hitting the streets against the state government
on various issues and Trinamool reciprocating by terming them as
'B-team' of the Left.
The Trinamool, the second largest constituent of the UPA with 19
MPs in the Lok Sabha and six in the Rajya Sabha, is also mainly
responsible for the central government's backtracking on the
foreign direct investment (FDI) plan in retail sector after
Banerjee raised a red flag against the key reform measure.
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