New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took a swipe at the Congress after Trinamool Congress (TMC) announced its candidates for all 42 West Bengal Lok Sabha seats on Sunday. Taunting the grand old party, the BJP claimed wherever Rahul Gandhi has set his foot, the I.N.D.I.A bloc met its demise.
"Today, yet another 'Jhatka' yet another 'Kalesh' in I.N.D.I alliance. Mamata Banerjee has unilaterally declared the candidates in West Bengal and now Congress is looking here and there. Wherever Rahul Gandhi has gone, the I.N.D.I. alliance has breathed its last," BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla told news agency ANI.
Poonawalla's remarks were in reference to Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that traversed through West Bengal last month. He also lambasted the Congress for its silence on the allegations raised by women in Sandeshkhali against TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan.
“Congress tried to maintain a strategic silence on Sandeshkhali. Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi said nothing about Sheikh Shahjahan, and Mallikarjun Kharge defended it. Mamata Banerjee first had offered to the Congress two seats saying the party won't manage even 40 seats across the country. This is the state of their alliance,” the BJP leader mocked.
Notably, the Sandeshkhali controversy snowballed into a major battleground between the BJP and TMC ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. TMC’s Sheikh Shahjahan, accused of assaulting women in Sandeshkhali and encroaching upon their lands, was arrested by the West Bengal police earlier this month.
Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar further ridiculed the dwindling electoral prospects of the Congress, asserting that the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state would predominantly revolve around a bipolar contest between BJP and TMC. He said that Congress only holds sway in a few pockets and lacks a substantial foothold on the ground.
“Politically, this Lok Sabha election will be predominantly bipolar in West Bengal between BJP and TMC. Congress only has existence in few patches, otherwise, they don’t have any hold on the ground,” Majumdar told PTI.
Notably, the Congress and TMC leaders have engaged in a war of words over seat-sharing in West Bengal, with the Mamata Banerjee-led party maintaining its stance of offering no more than two seats. Congress currently has two MPs from West Bengal.
Reacting to TMC's candidate announcement, Congress reiterated its desire for a respectable seat-sharing agreement with the party in West Bengal. However, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury launched a scathing attack on Mamata Banerjee for nominating Yusuf Pathan to contest from the Behrampore Lok Sabha constituency, a Congress stronghold.
Chowdhury accused TMC of strategically fielding a candidate in Behrampore to split Congress votes and strengthen BJP's prospects.