NEW DELHI: On a day Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that a party-led alliance would come to power in 2024 and that it was in talks with other parties to ally, a war of words broke out between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Rahul Gandhi. Rahul attacked the TMC on Wednesday, saying it was in the Meghalaya fray to ensure BJP’s victory in the state, drawing a sharp reaction from the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
He spoke about “violence and scams” in West Bengal where it is in power. He also hit out at the BJP alleging it was like a “class bully” that respects no one as it thinks that it knows everything. “You know the TMC history, the violence and scams that take place in West Bengal. You are aware of their tradition. They spent a huge amount of money in Goa (polls) and the idea was to help the BJP. That is exactly the idea in Meghalaya,” said Rahul.
Assembly elections in Meghalaya are due February 27. TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee came back at Rahul, saying the “irrelevance and incompetence” of the Congress had put them in a state of delirium. Abhishek Banerjee, who is the TMC national general secretary, said in a series of tweets that Gandhi must revisit the politics of vanity instead of attacking Bengal’s ruling party. “It is people’s love that propels us,” Banerjee said.
On Tuesday, Kharge’s assertion came days after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar urged the Congress to take initiative to unite Opposition parties to challenge the BJP in the 2024 elections. The Congress’ pitch for a leadership role is significant coming ahead of the party’s three-day plenary session beginning February 24 in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur.
Meanwhile, taking to Twitter, Kharge said that in 2024, an alliance government will come to power at the Centre and his party would be the fulcrum of the alliance. The Congress chief also posted the video of the speech he made at the election rally in Nagaland on Tuesday.
“In 2024, the alliance government will come to power in the Centre. The party will lead,” Kharge said. Lashing out at PM Modi, Kharge said the party was not afraid even if ‘100 Modis or Shahs come’.