Trinamool sharpens Adhir attack over 'BJP clip', Congress cries 'misinformation'
Times of India | 3 May 2024
KOLKATA: Latching onto a campaign video of Adhir Chowdhury, where he is allegedly heard saying that "voting for BJP is better than voting for Trinamool", TMC has sharpened its attack on the state Congress chief, accusing him of being a "BJP agent".
CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged that "BJP and (Bengal) Congress were working in tandem to engineer TMC's defeat".State Congress, however, claimed that the video clip was "doctored" and shared a full video of the speech, blaming TMC for spreading "misinformation".
The video clip doing the rounds was of Chowdhury's speech while campaigning for Congress's Jangipur candidate Mortuza Hossain (Bokul).
Chowdhury had said, "Is baar charso paar. Survey says already 100 seats have slipped out of Modi's hands. The BJP tally is on the slide. It is important to vote for Congress and Left, because Congress-Left needs to win in defence of secularism. If you vote for TMC, it would be better if you vote for BJP. Voting for BJP is better than voting for TMC. Therefore, don't vote for TMC or for BJP. Vote for Congress candidate Bokul."
"Finally - from the B-team horse's mouth! Congress Bengal chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury publicly asks people in his rally to vote for the BJP & not the TMC. While Mamata Banerjee fights against the full might of Modi + Central Agencies machinery, Bengal Congress is openly asking votes for the BJP. In Bengal, TMC is INDIA taking on BJP. Meanwhile, Congress & CPM have chosen to become Modi's loyal soldiers. This is disgusting & beyond shameless," TMC MP Saket Gokhale posted on X, sharing the 8-second clip.
Claiming that the comment had been taken out of context, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh stressed the party's only goal was to significantly reduce the number of seats held by BJP in Bengal.
"I haven't watched the video and I don't know the context in which he said this but I want to make one thing clear, Congress has only one goal. Out of 42 seats, 18 seats went to BJP in the 2019 election. We have to reduce the BJP's numbers and reducing them significantly is our only objective. This is not an assembly election, these are Lok Sabha elections and the Congress party is in the INDIA bloc with our allies. TMC leader Mamata Banerjee has said that she is also a part of the INDIA bloc, although seat-sharing with us could not happen," said Ramesh.