“Didi is enough for Bengal”: TMC workers slam Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, greet Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra into Bengal with placards and protest

Trinamool Congress supporters bearing placards that read “Didi is enough for Bengal” assembled on the streets on Thursday to greet Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that entered into Coochbehar for its Bengal leg. The protests come a day after West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee ruled out the possibility of an alliance with Congress in Bengal and decided to fight solo.

The TMC workers have slammed Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as a stooge of the BJP, and have alleged that the Congress state President of Bengal has adopted an anti-alliance approach. “Didi has been working towards formulating a united INDIA front in Bengal. Although we support Rahul Gandhi and his yatra, we are protesting against Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who has been working against the idea of an alliance in Bengal. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has to understand that an alliance needs to be formed in Bengal, under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee to fight against the BJP in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” said TMC worker Indrajit Pal.

Following Mamata Banerjee’s firm stand on her solo Bengal fight, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the idea of an INDIA alliance is not possible without the Trinamool Congress supremo. "Red light and speed breaker do not mean that the journey ends. Rahul Gandhi was asked the same question and he said that Mamata Banerjee is a key leader of the INDIA bloc. Mamata ji is also a tall leader of the country, West Bengal, Rahul Gandhi said. We cannot imagine the INDIA bloc without Mamata Banerjee," said Jairam Ramesh. Despite Congress’s olive branch, the TMC workers hit the streets with placards indicating that Jairam Ramesh’s words have not been able to mollify Trinamool Congress in Bengal.

During a press conference in Assam on Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that his party enjoys a strong bond with Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee and that the seat-sharing equation in Bengal will be met amicably. "The negotiations on seat-sharing are underway; I don't want to comment here. But Mamata Banerjee is very close to me and our party. Sometimes our leaders say something, their leaders say something, and it goes on. It's a natural thing. Such comments won't matter and these are not things that are going to disrupt things," Gandhi said.

A day later, the Trinamool Congress supremo completely ruled out the possibility of an alliance in Bengal. “It is completely false. There is no talk with Congress over seat-sharing. We have decided that TMC will go alone and have no alliance as far as Bengal is concerned. We had proposed a seat-sharing and after they had rejected that, there have been no further talks with us,” said Mamata Banerjee.

Congress state President of Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was quick to take a jibe at Mamata Banerjee, calling her an opportunist. “This time, the elections will not be fought at the mercy of Mamata Banerjee. The Congress defeated the BJP and TMC in the two seats that Mamata Banerjee is leaving. The Congress party knows how to contest the elections. Mamta Banerjee is an opportunist; she came to power in 2011, with the mercy of Congress," said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, triggering protests from TMC workers that greeted the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Bengal.

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Bengal on Thursday morning and is expected to take a 2-day break in Coochbehar, and thereafter resume its journey on Sunday.​