West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sits in his office at the party headquarters in Kolkata. He is surrounded by fellow leaders, who are sharing tea and biscuits. Down below, there are no remnants of the defaced posters of national party president Mallikarjun Kharge. The central leadership has set up a fact-finding team to look into who is responsible for this, but it is clear that the snub to ‘Adhir da’, as he is called, is complete.
Not only this, Chowdhury’s supporters are now worried. When he reacted to chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement and clarification on providing “outside support” to the INDIA bloc, saying he did not trust her, Kharge’s comments immediately showed that the party has distanced itself from his remarks. In fact, sources close to him are now wondering why he would make such a statement with the elections still ongoing. He is also expected to campaign for the Left candidates as part of the alliance.
The TMC, meanwhile, is feeling hopeful about the state Congress chief’s loss in the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency. For the regional party, it will be sweet revenge against a man who has never minced words when it comes to their boss.
But, as the Congress feels that it could perform well in the elections, the need for Banerjee has increased. And, this is why, Kharge made a statement distancing the party from Chowdhury’s sharp words.
In fact, the party’s top leadership has not bothered to campaign in Bengal. This is possibly because a tie-up with the Left will compel them to take on the chief minister, which is something they want to avoid at all cost.
But then, where does this leave the man who has dared to take on Banerjee? Chowdhury’s job was to charge up the Congress in Bengal, where the party’s support has dwindled over the past few elections. Despite the fact that the central leadership wants to be soft on Banerjee, he continues to attack her.
“The comments Mamata Banerjee has made about the Ramakrishna Mission and Karthik Maharaj is an attempt to polarise, which is akin to what the BJP does. She is no different,” he told News18.
But, his hands are now tied and he has to wait to see if his political fortune is sealed after the poll results. This also adds to his loneliness. “Let’s see what happens,” he said with a smile.
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