Bengal Cong cries foul over Rahul's 'meet' with TMC's Abhishek

The Trinamool Congress on Thursday termed the 'meeting' between its leader Abhishek Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a welcome step towards 'strengthening the fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party', even as the Bengal Congress cried foul and said it is an attempt by the TMC to inch closer to the grand-old party sensing the mood of the nation.

There have been media reports of Banerjee meeting Rahul Gandhi at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday morning.

A leading Bengali daily had reported the meeting.

The TMC, however, is yet to come out with any official response accepting that such a meeting took place.

"We welcome such meetings between two senior leaders of two major political parties of the country. In the fight against the BJP, we welcome such meetings. Naturally, important opposition camp leaders will meet and discuss strategies to defeat the saffron camp. More such meetings should take place regularly," West Bengal Education Minister and TMC leader Bratya Basu said.

Echoing him, TMC MP Santanu Sen said, 'Strengthening the fight against the BJP should be the most important thing' in the present circumstances.

"The state Congress has been more interested in fighting against us rather than taking on the BJP. But we don't think the central Congress unit shares those views. In the present circumstances, fighting against the BJP should be the most important thing. We welcome this meeting," Sen said.

The TMC leadership, however, declined to comment on whether this meeting is a precursor to the TMC-Congress alliance in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "It is too early to comment on it," he said.

The TMC and Congress had teamed up in the 2001 and 2011 assembly polls and the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress is presently in an alliance with the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front in Bengal.

Reacting to the meeting, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wondered whether the TMC is trying to inch closer to the grand-old party after repeatedly questioning its fighting ability against the BJP.

"Till a few months ago, TMC was all out against the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. Things seem to have changed after the successful Bharat Jodo Yatra and Karnataka poll victory. Now the TMC is trying to shift its policy from being a covert BJP supporter to an ally of the Congress," he said.

The Congress leader in Lok Sabha said, "The TMC leadership has sensed the changing mood of the nation, which is yearning for a change from BJP rule."

In alliance with the Left Front, the Bengal unit of the Congress had gone hammer and tongs against the alleged misrule of the TMC in Bengal.

Reacting to the reported meeting, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari wondered why there is so much secrecy about a political meeting.

"The Congress should come out clean whether they support the corruption charges against the TMC or not. Why is there so much secrecy? What are they trying to hide?" he questioned.

The TMC, after its victory in the 2021 assembly polls, had tried to expand its footprint in other states and then repeatedly attacked the Congress for failing to fight the BJP at the Centre.