Rahul Gandhi attacks BJP and TMC in his maiden poll outing in West Bengal
Goalpokhor/Siliguri, Apr 14: In his maiden campaign in poll-bound West Bengal, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday termed BJP's claim to build "Sonar Bangla"(golden Bengal) as a "mirage" and said the saffron party has nothing to offer except for hatred, violence and dividing people on the basis of language, religion, caste and creed.
Gandhi also attacked ruling Trinamool Congress, saying his party would never align with the BJP and the RSS, unlike the TMC, which in the past had been an alliance partner of the saffron party-led NDA.
The former Congress president, who attended two rallies in North Bengal in Goalpokor in Uttar Dinajpur and Siliguri, blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to control COVID-19 surge in Bengal.
"BJP wants to destroy Bengal's culture, heritage and divide it. In Assam, they are doing the same thing; in Tamil Nadu, they are trying to do the same thing with their alliance partner AIADMK.
"The BJP has nothing to offer except for hatred, violence and divisive politics," he said.
With Congress having tie-up with the Left Front and fledgling Indian Secular Front of Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui, Gandhi targetted both the BJP and the TMC but he was more furious at the saffron party while attack on Mamata Banerjee's party was comparatively low-key.
Though four rounds of voting are over in Bengal, this was the first occasion that a member of the Gandhi family campaigned in the politically significant state.
Rahul Gandhi and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had taken many trips to Assam, where voting in three phases is over, but they remained away from Bengal, which is witnessing a fierce battle of ballots between the TMC and the BJP.
Mocking BJP's slogan of building "Sonar Bangla", Gandhi termed it as a "mirage" and said they "sell the same dream in every state".
"In every state, they say similar things like Sonar Bangla.
But, they only offer dividing people on the basis of religion, caste and language," the Congress leader said.
Criticising the "cut money" culture in Bengal, Gandhi said, "You gave the opportunity to TMC. But, they failed. People of the state have to venture out in search of jobs. This is the only state where you have to pay cut money to get jobs".
Ridiculing the TMC poll slogan "Khela Hobe" (Game will happen), he said serving people and playing games in this regard are not the same.
"We have never aligned with the BJP and the RSS. Our fight is not just political but ideological too. For Mamata Ji, it is just a political fight.
"The BJP knows very well Congress will never surrender before them, so they called for Congress Mukt Bharat. They never said TMC mukt Bharat, as they have been their former allies," he said.
TMC was a constituent of the NDA during time of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in whose cabinet Mamata Banerjee had served.
The BJP is not afraid of Banerjee and TMC; he said, "but they are afraid of Rahul Gandhi and Congress. The BJP knows I will never compromise or surrender before them."
Gandhi urged people to vote in favour of the Congress- ISF-Left alliance in Bengal to usher in a new development era.
Lashing out at PM Modi over COVID situation in the country, the Congress leader said, "Modiji and the BJP have failed to control coronavirus surge in the country".
"This central government is not bothered about whether you have jobs or lost it. This government is just bothered about a few industrialists and their profit," he said.
Slamming the TMC government for failing to provide jobs, Gandhi said the state government had done nothing for the development.
The TMC retorted Gandhi for making comments without being aware of the ground realities.
"We don't need lessons from Rahul Gandhi on how to combat BJP and RSS. Its the TMC which is fighting against the BJP in Bengal," TMC MP Sougata Roy said.
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Post poll TN alliances divided in supporting TVK
Chennai (PTI): In a changed political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu with no single political party having a simple majority to form the government post the Assembly election, opinion is divided among the allies led by the Dravidian majors in extending external support to Vijay-led TVK in government formation.
Both the DMK and AIADMK are at unease as the Congress and also a section in the AIADMK express willingness to extend external support to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagtam in forming the government.
Post poll, the TVK's political prospects appear to impact alliances led by both the Dravidian majors in a different manner, triggering a speculation of a split.
Leema Rose Martin, who won from Lalgudi on an AIADMK ticket, has stated that talks were underway on extending support to the TVK. Her son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, who won from Villivakkam is TVK's general secretary.
On May 5, former AIADMK minister O S Manian, emerging from his meeting with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, stated that AIADMK would not support TVK in forming the government.
The AIADMK, which finished third in the elections with 47 seats has cancelled its meeting of MLAs designate on Wednesday amidst a difference in extending external support to the TVK, which won 108 seats, including two seats by its founder Vijay.
As Vijay is gearing up for his swearing-in on May 7, the police have tightened security at his residence here. The party has lodged its MLA-elect at a resort in Mamallapuram and has simultaneously engaged in talks with the Congress and AIADMK, a source said.
The DMK that won 59 seats on its own, has convened a meeting of its newly elected legislators on May 7 evening and the party is likely to elect the youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, who won from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni as its legislature party leader.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal admitted that TVK chief Vijay requested the Congress for support to form the government.
"The INC is clear that the mandate in Tamil Nadu is for a secular government, committed to protecting the Constitution in letter and spirit. The INC is determined not to allow the BJP and its proxies to run the government of Tamil Nadu in any manner. Thiru Vijay has also spoken about drawing inspiration from Perunthalaivar Kamaraj," he said.
Accordingly, the Congress leadership has directed the TNCC to take a final decision on Vijay’s request, keeping in view the sentiments of the state as reflected in the electoral verdict, Venugopal said in a statement.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai slammed the Congress decision and said the move to ally with TVK, pledging the support of its five MLAs to the party, was tantamount to "backstabbing the DMK and the people of Tamil Nadu."
"They have betrayed the mandate given by the people. Even before the ink on the returning officer’s signature on the victory certificate has dried, they have chosen to go ahead with this alliance," he told PTI.
The most important question was who took this "foolhardy decision, and how is it going to backfire on the Congress?" he asked.
"I don’t think they had any serious deliberation on this. The larger issue is their opposition to the BJP, which is their ideological enemy. We have supported the Congress throughout. It was our leader M K Stalin, who named Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate when the BJP and RSS were criticising him. And now, within a day, they say they are supporting TVK. This is not the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu,” Saravanan said.
The Congress' exit from its long-standing alliance with the DMK will be a significant moment in the political scenario of the state, commentator and political analyst Sumanth Raman said.
The Congress may be betting on the TVK as a long-term partner option, but that comes with risks, as the TVK is as yet an unknown quantity, he said.
"For the DMK, if the TVK+Congress becomes the choice of the minorities as it well could, it is an existential threat. It was the minority vote that gave the DMK alliance a 12%-15% cushion in the polls. If that goes, their chances of winning drops dramatically," Raman said on 'X.'
The Congress won 5 seats. However, DMK's other allies, the IUML, VCK, CPI and CPI (M) and DMDK have categorically stated that they would not support TVK.
As of now, the TVK requires the support of 11 MLAs to attain a simple majority of 118 to form the government.
The PMK, which won 4 seats and AMMK one - both allies of AIADMK - have not announced their decision yet.
"AIADMK’s real post-result drama may not be outside the party, but inside it. Whispers from the west and north suggest that a Coimbatore hand and a Villupuram voice may soon ask the question everyone is avoiding: Is it time to save the party from the leadership, before the cadre are forced to do it themselves? In politics, coups don’t begin with slogans. They begin with silence, phone calls and “review meetings,” Aspire Swaminathan, who is credited with founding the AIADMK IT wing in 2014, said on 'X.'
He has resigned from the AIADMK in 2021 and now acts an as independent political analyst.
