Cong & Left that oppose BJP nationally shouldn't fight TMC in Bengal: Partha
KOLKATA: Congress and the Left, which oppose BJP nationally, should not work against the TMC in Bengal, and efforts should be made for a broad-based alliance of opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said.
He said TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee would be a pivotal anti-BJP force in the general elections and play a crucial role in ousting the BJP from power.
Chatterjee, an influential minister in the Banerjee Cabinet, also said the TMC was undergoing a generational change so that it could have a perfect balance of the old and the young.
Talking about a torrent of TMC deserters wanting to return to the party after its triumph over the BJP in the assembly elections, he said, the decision on their rejoining will be made on a "case to case basis" but wondered whether they would have bothered to return if the party had not become victorious.
"Mamata Banerjee is the most credible and dependable anti-BJP face in the country. It is my appeal that all anti-BJP forces should come together. Some parties like the Left and the Congress are opposing BJP nationally but are working against us in Bengal. This should not be the case," he said.
Responding to a question about the recent elevation of young leaders such as Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, he said the party was going through a generational shift. Abhishek was appointed TMC national general secretary soon after the party's victory in the assembly elections in May.
"We started our journey in 1998. Now we are undergoing a generational shift. This is being done with an eye on the future...to groom the next generation that can take over the mantle in times to come," he said.
Chatterjee said Mamata Banerjee is herself overseeing this generational shift to prepare the party for future battles.
"Abhishek is a very popular youth leader and is shaping well," he said.
"There has to be a perfect balance of the old and the new. You have to bring in young blood as it is required for the future. Now, what will be the ratio of the young to the old is for our party supremo to decide," he said.
"We go through the process of discussion, conciliation and consensus before arriving at any decision. Above all, we have Mamata Banerjee, who is our guiding force and takes the final call," the 68-year old leader said.
About the possibility of the return of former minister Rajib Banerjee, who had joined the BJP just before the polls, the TMC secretary general said disdainfully: "He is not such a big leader who we need to discuss."
