Days after Mamata Banerjee softens her stance on party, leader of Bengal Congress slams her

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, has drawn criticism for her demonstration of support for the Congress following its victory in Karnataka. Somen Roy Chowdhury, the leader of the West Bengal Congress, attacked Mamata Banerjee for “destroying the party in West Bengal” in a letter to DK Shivakumar, the head of the Karnataka Congress, on Wednesday.

Following Mamata Banerjee’s declaration of support for the Congress in the 2024 general election following its resounding victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections, Roy Chowdhury wrote the letter.

DK Shivakumar, the head of the Congress’ Karnataka unit, has praised Mamata’s outreach.

Roy Chowdhury claimed that Mamata Banerjee has ruined the Congress in West Bengal in a strongly worded email to DK Shivakumar. ‘We strongly protest, she has always used the Congress party for her personal gains. Time to time, she has attacked our supreme leaders and did all she could to destroy the party,’ wrote Roy Chowdhury.

Notably, Mamata recently gave Congress a rare sign of support, saying the TMC would do the same if the old party did the same for it.

Earlier this week, when speaking to the media in Bengaluru, Shivakumar had praised Mamata’s comments.

Additionally, Chowdhury asserted that Bengali Congress supporters will reject any coalition with “political traitor Mamata Banerjee”. He claimed that a number of Congress leaders in Bengal had expressed their opposition to any potential coalition with the TMC before the 2024 poll.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a leader in the Congress, had earlier declared that the party would continue to oppose the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal notwithstanding Mamata Banerjee’s shift of position.

‘Today Congress has won. Mamata Banerjee thinks she won’t be able to go forward without an understanding with the Congress. Have we heard her say vote for the Congress before the Karnataka elections? In the run-up to the elections, she never appealed to the people of Karnataka to vote for the Congress,’ Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Choudhury said.