Cong brass doesn’t ‘rule out’ tie-up in Bengal, state unit to fortify base first
Times of India | 20 March 2025
Kolkata: Congress brass, which met Bengal unit netas at a hybrid meeting in Delhi on Wednesday, has not ruled out the possibility of an alliance for the assembly polls in Bengal, said sources. Pradesh Congress netas, however, will analyse the party's strengths in Bengal before deciding upon an alliance.
Congress leadership, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal met more than 30 state netas in a three-hour long meeting at Indira Bhawan. Other Bengal netas joined virtually. In the meeting, Gandhi asked for suggestions from state netas to strengthen the party in Bengal and came out with some inputs himself, said sources.
Saying that the state unit will look to enhance vote share, Bengal Congress minder Ghulam Ahmad Mir said after the meeting: "Let us strengthen our party more in Bengal. The question of alliance will come after that. There's still time before the elections. People in the state want Congress to play a key role in the election and we are preparing for that."
"Central netas are also willing to start a dialogue with the people of Bengal soon," Mir added.
"We want the state to develop and people to prosper in Bengal. People can be misled for a while, but they don't remain in the dark always. Only development models can provide an alternative to the binary in the state. Every community suffers from joblessness. People will understand this very soon," state Congress president Subhankar Sarkar said.
"We are not strong in all 294 seats. However, we have strengths in some seats and our leadership discussed the strategy regarding the seats where we have potential," a Congress neta said.