'Adhir is working at the behest of RSS, is BJP’s number-one man'

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee, on Sunday, held a telephonic meeting with leaders of Sagardighi, Murshidabad district and is learnt to have warned them against the Congress which is allegedly misleading the minorities there in alleged collusion with the RSS.

Banerjee is said to have interacted with the district leaders there such as MP Khalilur Rahman, and Abu Taher Khan who have supposedly complained to the party chief that Congress is misleading the minorities in Murshidabad against TMC.

They alleged that Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is brainwashing minorities and turning them against TMC. This supposedly contributed to the defeat of TMC in Sagardighi bypolls.

Banerjee has reportedly alleged that Adhir is working at the behest of RSS and is BJP’s number-one man here. She reasoned that this is more apparent in the wake of how the BJP is using Rahul Gandhi to silence the Opposition in the Parliament.

At the invitation of the district party leaders, she may visit Murshidabad next month for a political meeting.

She also told the leaders that TMC’s Murshidabad leaders will have to reach out to more people there and inform them of the developmental initiatives and welfare schemes introduced by the state government.

She is said to have expressed her disappointment and remarked that according to reports that reached her, TMC leaders and workers in Murshidabad are not doing enough to reach out to people who have many complaints.

With the backing of the Left, Congress had fielded candidate Bayron Biswas for bypolls in Sagardighi constituency in Murshidabad; a seat which belonged to TMC but fell vacant after its leader Subrata Saha passed away.

Post the bypolls, after 16 rounds of counting Biswas bagged 87,667 votes, according to the Election Commission data. Debashish Banerjee of TMC garnered 64,681 votes while Dilip Saha of the BJP received 25,815 votes.

Murshidabad has been a Congress fort for a long time, until the 2021 Assembly elections when the tables turned and TMC swept away the seats, leaving no scope for the Congress to represent itself in the state Assembly.

However, the Sagardighi bypolls changed the equation once again with Congress now getting a place in Vidhan Sabha but this victory dealt a blow to the TMC which was confident it would secure the Sagardighi seat. Following poll results, Mamata sought a detailed report on the debacle and formed a committee to probe the cause of defeat.

Meanwhile, on the occasion of Sri Sri Harichand Thakur’s birth anniversary the TMC supremo urged to pledge to work towards an egalitarian society that’s free of divisive ideas. She tweeted: “Today, on his birth anniversary, I pay homage to the great Sri Sri Harichand Thakur. Dedicating his life to educating and uplifting the marginalised, he set a precedent for all of us. Let us take a pledge to work towards an egalitarian society that’s free of divisive ideas.”

Paying his respect, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee tweeted: “I pay my respects to Sri Sri Harichand Thakur on the special occasion of his Jayanti. As a social reformer, he dedicated his life to educating and empowering the marginalised and downtrodden. His ideals continue to inspire not just the Matua community but all of us in Bengal.