‘Rightly said’, Didi says on Cong neta’s expulsion comment
Times of India | 8 January 2025
12 Kolkata: "Rightly said." CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday reacted with just two words to Bengal Congress senior Pradip Bhattacharya's statement on Saturday that Congress was still paying for her expulsion from the party.
Banerjee landed at Howrah's Dumurjala helipad from Gangasagar on Tuesday afternoon. Asked by reporters about Bhattacharya's comment, the CM responded with the two words.
Bhattacharya, a former Pradesh Congress chief and an ex-MP, was speaking at a party programme in central Kolkata on Saturday night when he said: "The day Bengal's present CM was expelled, I received a call from Somen Mitra, the then PCC chief. He told me that Sitaram Kesri, the then Congress president, had asked him to expel Mamata... I told Somen not to do this. But his hand was forced due to immense pressure. Congress is still paying for this expulsion."
Speaking to TOI later, Bhattacharya said: "Somen was misrepresented at that time while a section of Delhi netas wanted Mamata to be expelled — the biggest mistake by Congress. The party lost its strength and became weak in Bengal... it is still struggling to cope with it."
Trinamool on Sunday dismissed questions as to whether Bhattacharya's statement was an attempt by state Congress to come closer to TMC. "Bhattacharya is a very senior neta. He was witness to the events in 1997. He spoke from his heart. But Congress in Delhi and some of its netas in Bengal, who were cohabiting with CPM then, forced this suicidal move to expel Banerjee," party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.