Rahul Gandhi discusses Congress revival in Bengal amid TMC meltdown

COngress leader Rahul mrs. Gandhi initiated intragroup discussions to fortify the company in due west Bengal days before meeting crisis-hit Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday, the second such meeting between top leaders of the two parties. The meetings came amid a series of exits from the TMC as it lost power in West Bengal last month after 15 years.People aware of the matter said Gandhi met former West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday and discussed immediate tasks for the party’s revival in the state, where it lost power 49 years ago in 1977. Chowdhury, a fierce critic of TMC, was quoted as telling Gandhi that the Congress, which won two of 294 seats in this year’s assembly elections, has a “golden opportunity” to revive itself in West Bengal. The two leaders discussed how a large section of the people, particularly Muslims, who account for 27% of the state’s population (2011 census), might turn towards the Congress.A Congress leader said Chowdhury told Gandhi that many of the TMC’s grassroots leaders and workers are keen to join the Congress after the TMC’s debacle. Chowdhury remains a strong advocate for an alliance with Left parties to attract anti-TMC voters. A section of the Congress’s state unit opposes that idea.Chowdhury said he was in Delhi and therefore sought an appointment with Rahul Gandhi. “Obviously, when we meet, we do not discuss Bengal’s weather,” he said. The meeting assumed significance because Congress is considering a leadership change in West Bengal.The TMC has been firefighting since it lost power. It expelled two of its 78 legislators in the state before 57 of them rebelled and backed Ritabrata Banerjee as leader of the opposition in the assembly. At least 16 of 28 TMC Lok Sabha members rebelled and met West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari.On Monday, TMC’s Sukhendu Sekhar Ray quit the Rajya Sabha. His party colleagues in the Upper House, Prakash Chik Baraik, followed suit on Thursday, and Sushmita Dev a day earlier, reducing the party’s strength to 10 in the Rajya Sabha.Banerjee met Gandhi on Wednesday to explore possibilities to deepen ties, even as the TMC rejected speculation that the two parties were discussing a merger. On Tuesday, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee met Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. The TMC leadership is expected to meet Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.The TMC has not ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the Congress in West Bengal, something it has avoided since 2012. The TMC swept to power in 2011 in alliance with the Congress after a 34-year Left Front rule.