As the Congress fights a political battle in Himachal, in Bengal, party leader and advocate Koustav Banerjee has quit the party citing that it entered a "self-destructiveBengal Congress" mode and lashed out at the party's "stoic silence" over the Sandeshkhali incident that has kept the state on the edge.
Speaking about the ongoing Sandeshkhali row, Bagchi stated that the incident had shaken the conscience of the entire nation and the enormity of the situation even made PM Modi react. On the contrary "shockingly and surprisingly our top leadership maintained a stoic silence over the entire issue which left the entire rank and file of the party dejected, embarrassed, demoralised, and extremely demotivated and has forced them to hang their head in shame," he stated in his letter.
He also slammed the party for being mum even after its workers were facing humiliation for the past 46 years in West Bengal at the hands of the ruling party.
In his resignation letter, he stated that Congress does not acknowledge the existence of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) but has accepted TMC as its outfit in the state.
"I believe the urge for forging an alliance by our Top Leadership with the TMC is nothing but a blatant insult to those loyal soldiers of the Congress party only for some parochial interests and/or gains of certain leaders and their associates...Without hesitation, I can firmly say that in the present day scenario, the Indian National Congress has lost its political character," the letter stated.
Bagchi also remarked that the Congress party shifts its focus to image-branding of a particular individual rather than focusing on winning the elections.
Bagchi alleged that the Congress has turned a blind eye to the incidents when the party workers were beaten to death and implicated in a series of false criminal cases in West Bengal. He stated: "Ever since the very inception of the TMC, they have been instrumental in decimating the Congress in West Bengal and the Top Leadership has allowed that to happen."
Bagchi, who was associated with Congress since 2004 when he was 14 years old, came into the limelight last year after he was apprehended by the police for his remarks against the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee. The West Bengal CM had made derogatory comments about state Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's deceased daughter.
According to Congress spokespersons in West Bengal, Bagchi tendered his resignation to the Congress high command and West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Indian Express reported.