The Bengal unit of the Congress and its national leadership have again taken contradictory stands on Mamata Banerjee’s sit-in demonstration at Kolkata’s City Centre.
For the second time in less than a month, the Congress’ State unit has contradicted its high command. The last time the two were at loggerheads was when the Trinamool Congress organised an anti-BJP rally.
Bone of contention
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee began an agitation on Sunday evening after an unprecedented showdown between CBI officials and the State police force over the questioning of Kolkata Police Commissioner, Rajeev Kumar, in relation to a multi-crore Ponzi scam. Banerjee has since then been on a “
Immediately after the Chief Minister launched an agitation, Congress MP and former Bengal unit President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury criticised the move, calling it a “drama”.
This contrasted sharply with the Central leadership’s stand: Congress President Rahul Gandhi not (only) called up Banerjee but also lent his support to the protest.
Taking to social media, Gandhi tweeted: “Spoke with Mamata Di tonight & told her we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her. The happenings in Bengal are a part of the unrelenting attack on India’s institutions by Mr Modi & the BJP. The entire Opposition will stand together & defeat these fascist forces.”
Congress leader Ahmed Patel is said to have called up Banerjee “three-to-four times” to express support.
Despite all this, Bengal Congress unit President Somen Mitra, in a press conference on Monday, questioned why the Kolkata Police Commissioner was skipping enquiries by the CBI.
“If he (Kumar) is not in the wrong, why is he avoiding the CBI,” Mitra asked, adding that the Bengal unit would oppose “the TMC government and the BJP”.
Banerjee dismissed the matter as Congress’ “internal matter”.
Principal opposition
The Congress is the principal Opposition to the ruling TMC in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly with 25-odd MLAs.
Although it started with 41-odd MLAs in 2016, subsequent defections to the TMC whittled the number down.
Steps towards initiating a CBI investigation into the multi-crore Ponzi scheme scam — which has now become the bone of contention between Banerjee and the BJP — were initiated after Congress leader Abdul Mannan went to the court calling for an impartial probe.
Against this background, the State unit of the Congress is finding it difficult to explain the dual stand to its workers and voters.
The repeated court appearance of Abhishek Manu Singhvi, a leading advocate and Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Bengal, on behalf of the State government has also not been seen in good light by the State leadership.
Said a senior leader from the State unit of the party: “People supporting Mamata are worried about the national politics. But, we have to worry about the voters here in Bengal.”
BJP pitches-in
Union Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad endorsed Congress MP Adhir’s consistent stand on the matter.
The party dug up old tweets of Rahul Gandhi to point out his ‘U-turn’. A video in this regard was also circulated by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.
“Diagnosed: Multiple Personality Disorder …. there is trouble remembering certain events, beyond ordinary forgetfulness,” the BJP tweeted carrying a collage of Rahul Gandhi’s previous statements.