Adhir Chowdhury calls Mamata Banerjee ‘opportunist’ moments after Rahul Gandhi says ‘we’re close’

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the party, said that Chowdhury is “very close” to the West Bengal chief minister.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the leader of the West Bengal Congress, intensified his criticism of Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister, on Tuesday on the allocation of state seats for the Lok Sabha election. Chowdhury referred to Mamata Banerjee as an “opportunist” and warned that the polls would not be decided at her discretion, taking aim at the leader of the Trinamool Congress.

“The polls will not be held under Mamata Banerjee’s sway this time. In the two seats where Mamata Banerjee is stepping down, the Congress defeated the BJP and TMC. The Congress party is skilled at running for office. At a news conference, the head of the state Congress declared, “Mamta Banerjee is an opportunist; she came to power in 2011 with the mercy of Congress.”

The West Bengal chief minister is “very close” to party head Rahul Gandhi, who also stated that the state Congress president’s criticism of Banerjee over seat-sharing “won’t matter” before Chowdhury’s statements.

“I don’t want to comment right now; the seat-sharing negotiations are still in progress. However, Mamata Banerjee and I get along well. There are moments when our leaders speak, their leaders speak, and so on. It is a normal occurrence. “Such remarks are unimportant and won’t cause any disruptions,” Gandhi declared while on the fringes of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

As members of the INDIA bloc, the Congress and TMC have pledged to oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party in the forthcoming general election. However, when both parties are at odds over seat-sharing, the national commitment runs into difficulties at the state level.

Given that it won in those constituencies in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is expected to win only two of the 42 Lok Sabha seats. Although the official seat-sharing negotiations have not yet taken place, the TMC has recommended that they be conducted under each party’s performance.

Mamata Banerjee, meantime, had attacked the Congress for delaying talks on seat sharing, referring to their “unjustified” demand for 10–12 Lok Sabha seats.

SOURCE: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/adhir-chowdhury-calls-mamata-banerjee-opportunist-moments-after-rahul-gandhi-says-we-re-close-101706056199215.html