TMC, Congress say looking to deepen ties

NEw new delhi: Trinamool us congress superior general secretarial assistant Abhishek Banerjee met Leader of the oppositeness in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday to explore possibilities to deepen ties, a day after party chief Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi, but the regional party junked speculation that the two outfits were discussing a merger.A senior TMC leader, aware of the details said: “The two leaders discussed a lot of issues including the plans of the INDIA alliance and the way ahead for the two parties. There were also some political discussions related to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks at the INDIA meeting on vote theft.”“There were also discussions on better coordination and for the next INDIA meeting which will take place in Hyderabad,” the leader said.The back-to-back meetings, however, betrayed a sense of desperation in the TMC which lost power in West Bengal last month after 15 years. Since then, the party has lurched from one crisis to the next – first, 59 of its 78 legislators in the state (two were expelled) rebelled and backed Ritabrata Banerjee as leader of the opposition in the assembly, then at least 16 of its Lok Sabha members rebelled and met chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, and two of its 13 Rajya Sabha members have resigned.Congress’s former Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “I am not an astrologer. I have no information about any merger or such things involving Bengal. Perhaps if a formal decision is reached on any matter, we will certainly be taken into confidence. Regarding the TMC party, you can all see that the party has been scattered, the senior leaders of the party are running around...For so long, they never felt the need to meet with Congress party leaders. Now, however, they feel that perhaps they should.”The TMC didn’t rule out the possibilities of an alliance with the Congress in West Bengal, something it avoided in the past 14 years. A senior TMC leader said, “There was a solid bonding,” when asked about the meeting on Wednesday.In 2011, Mamata Banerjee came to power in an alliance with the Congress. In September 2012, the Congress ministers in Banerjee’s government resigned after TMC quit the United Progressive Alliance. “In this situation, a tie up with the Congress is beneficial for Mamata,” said a senior Congress leader.Underlining the significance of the meeting, TMC pointed out that it was scheduled for 45 minutes but went on for 88 minutes. The TMC is also in touch with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which didn’t come to the INDIA bloc meeting on Monday.On Tuesday, Mamata Banerjee met Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi for 50 minutes at the latter’s residence 10, Janpath.TMC and Congress leaders also pointed out that the two parties coordinated on the schedule and plannings. “It was even decided that instead of all leaders, the Congress will address the media. In Sonia and Mamata’s meeting, the discussions were broadly on the INDIA alliance. At the fag end of the meeting, it was decided that there should be another meeting between the two parties,” said a Congress leader.The TMC brass is expected to meet Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge soon.Kolkata-based political commentator Suman Chattopadhyay dubbed the meetings as “of little use”. “The Congress should go with the Left in West Bengal for its revival. Gandhis should not forget how Mamata won the 2011 elections with the help of the Congress and for the next 15 years, she tried her best to demolish the Congress in West Bengal.”Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in a post on X said: “Some news reports on what supposedly transpired in the meeting between Smt Sonia Gandhi and Ms. Mamata Banerjee are completely inaccurate. The meeting was very cordial and many personal matters were talked about, given the long relationship they have had.”