Kolkata, July 19 (IANS) With Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge and CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury sharing the same dais with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, discontent has started brewing among a section of the leaders of both the parties (Congress and CPI-M) in West Bengal.
According to a source, a section within both the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has started raising questions on the justification of their national leaders sharing the dais with Mamata Banerjee at a time their own party workers have faced onslaughts of the ruling Trinamool Congress activists in the recently concluded panchayat elections “with many of them being killed in the hands of the ruling party activists”.
The most vocal among them has been Congress leader and the counsel of the Calcutta High Court Kaustav Bagchi.
He posted a message on Twitter, addressing Rahul Gandhi, reminding him of the killing of Congress workers in the recently concluded rural civic body polls.
“@RahulGandhi, eight Congress workers have been killed by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal in the recently concluded Panchayat elections. Am not going into the past facts and figures of their oppression and tyranny in the state. We are the workers of INC in WB and yes, WE DO EXIST,” Bagchi posted on Twitter.
Similarly, the leader of CPI-M youth wing, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) Sheikh Obeidulla, has gone a step ahead by claiming that he would prefer to join BJP in case there is any kind of tacit understanding of his party with Trinamool for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“My viewpoint is clear. If there is any understanding with the state’s ruling party who are responsible for the murder, property destruction and loss of livelihood, then I will have no option left but to join the BJP,” Obeidulla said.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, is making all attempts to fuel the growing discontent among these disgruntled Congress and CPI-M leaders.
He has given an open call to the disgruntled leaders and workers of both Congress and CPI-M to either join the BJP or form a separate political platform against the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.
–IANS
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