Congress is still preparing for Mamata’s ouster, says party veteran Pradip Bhattacharya

File photo of West Bengal Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Senior West Bengal Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya has stirred a hornet’s nest by saying that the party is still atoning for the ouster of Trinamool Congress president and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

“Congress is still preparing to expel Mamata Banerjee. I had warned him about his dismissal. But Somendranath Mitra [then State Congress president] he was forced to take this decision under the pressure of the central leadership,” said a veteran Congressman speaking at a public event on Saturday. The event was attended by State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar.

Mr. Bhattacharya said this in Kolkata while unveiling a statue of Mitra, who died in 2020. Ms. Banerjee was expelled from the Congress on December 21, 1997 and on January 1, 1998, she started the Trinamool Congress. The Trinamool partnered with the Congress to defeat the 34-year-old Left government in 2011. Since then, the Trinamool has been in power in the State and maintained its political dominance while the Congress’s vote share declined. It currently has no representation in the National Assembly.

On Sunday, reflecting on his words, the 79-year-old Congress leader said he was referring to the situation almost 28 years ago, when the Congress central leadership pressured the party’s state wing to expel Ms Banerjee. He said that former Congress president Sitaram Kesri insisted that he be expelled in 1997.

Mr. Bhattacharya is among the most senior Congress leaders from West Bengal. He held the post of Congress State president and represented the party in the Rajya Sabha. Mr. Bhattacharya had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the Kolkata North constituency.

Of late, the State Congress leadership has been warming to the Trinamool, especially after Mr. Sarkar has taken over the reins of the State wing from Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

The words of the Congress veteran welcomed the Trinamool leadership. Kunal Ghosh said Mr. Bhattacharya was right as Ms. Banerjee was committed to fighting the Communist Party of India (Marxist) while other Congress leaders were not.

Mr. Chowdhury said that while Ms Banerjee’s ouster was a thing of the past, she had not given up on “destroying the Congress party in West Bengal” after assuming office. Mr. Chowdhury also pointed out that the appreciation of the Trinamool chairman comes at a time when there were vacancies in the Rajya Sabha seats from the Govt.

Mr. Sarkar decided to avoid this debate. “I didn’t hear what Pradip saidYes he had said exactly. Many people say that I was there on the stage for that speech. But for some reason, I might not have heard that part of PradipYesthe speech of Mr. Sarkar.