The mega Opposition meet in Bengaluru next week faces yet another hurdle with the Congress and Trinamool Congress refusing to see eye to eye after the recent panchayat elections in West Bengal.
The battlefields for the conflict this time are Maldah and Murshidabad, both areas where the Congress holds sway but Mamata Banerjee’s TMC has been able to make inroads. Apart from being tightly contested, most poll-related deaths were from the two areas.
Addressing the media after the panchayat results — which saw the TMC sweep the state — Banerjee said: “I feel pity for CPM-Congress. I will not say anything because there is talk of a national alliance but do you think you will behave this way and I will entertain you?”
Without naming senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Banerjee blamed him for the violence in Murshidabad.
Sources in TMC say the party is serious about opposition unity at the national level but the high command may raise the issue of enmity with the Congress in the next meeting with the Grand Old Party’s top brass.
