New Delhi, Sept 13 : The Congress-Trinamool honeymoon in West Bengal appears to be on the brink, as a large number of state Congress leaders on Monday told party general secretary Rahul Gandhi that Mamata Banerjee's party is out to weaken the Congress in the state.
A group of 25 Congress leaders met Rahul Gandhi at 10 Janpath around 9 in the morning and told him the situation for the party was grim and not very different from the situation in Bihar and Tamil Nadu, said Congress leader who was present at the meeting, The Indian Express reported.“We pointed out the party was targetted by Trinamool more than the CPM,”he said.
Referring to various instances of political discord between the two allies, the leaders also suggested the Congress should go alone in the next panchayat elections in the state.
The leaders also pointed that despite various letters written by state Congress President Pradip Bhattacharya on the violent attacks on Congress workers, the Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee had not replied, rubbishing them a false allegations.
The group which included leaders like Shankar Malakar, Manoj Pandey and Ajoy Ghosh also expressed resentment on the functioning of Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya and said they wanted Manas Bhunia to take over the charge.
According to insiders, the state Congress leaders are unhappy with the way the party functioned after the Assembly elections and are keen to have a separate identity of its own in the state. Although Rahul Gandhi did not say anything, he heard them patiently. The group also submitted a memorandum to the Congress leader. Meanwhile, the state Congress leadership in has refused to comment on the issue.
District president of 10 districts in the state and MLAs met Rahul Gandhi on Monday and expressed their concern about the alleged political attacks on the party by ally Trinamool Congress.
Leaders like Devi Ghosal, MLA Nepal Mahato, Asit Mal, Rabindranth Bhattachrya told Rahul Gandhi how Trinamool was systematically trying to hamper the prospects of the party in the state.
