Difference of opinion in Congress over Bengal CM

AICC asks Bengal unit to scale down attack on Mamata

The Congress party and its West Bengal unit appears to be divided over attacking Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee in the backdrop of the Presidential elections.

While the All India Congress Committee is preferring to go soft on Banerjee hoping to get her party to vote for UPA’s nominee for Presidential polls, Pranab Mukherjee, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) is continuing with its relentless attack on TMC “due to local politics and also, because she opposed the candidature of a Bengali.

“We have asked our West Bengal unit to tone down its attack on Mamata and TMC as we are hopeful that her party will vote for Pranabda, else it can complicate situation. However, WBCC doesn’t seem to agree because of local politics there,” a senior Congress leader told Deccan Herald.

The leader further informed that keeping the importance of TMC votes for presidential elections in mind, the Congress high command has not accepted the resolution passed by WBPCC to walk out of the West Bengal government after Banerjee opposed Mukherjee’s candidature for the country’s highest office.

The Congress’soft stance on Banerjee in the wake of the race for Raisina Hill was also reflected in party distancing itself and disapproving the remarks made by party general secretary Digvijay Singh about West Bengal chief minister.

After Singh dubbed Banerjee as “immature” and “erratic” and suggested that there is a “limit” to the patience of the party for rejecting UPA’s nominee for presidential elections, Congress snubbed him and said he was not authorised to speak on party behalf.Also, almost all the Congress leaders at the Centre have openly appealed to Banerjee to vote for UPA’s nominee.

However, the state unit of the party seems to be following a different trajectory as it continues its criticism of “Didi”.

After the Calcutta High Court on Friday struck down as unconstitutional the Singur land law which scrapped the land lease given to Tata Motors by the Left Front regime, Congress leader Abdul Mannan questioned Banerjee’s intent to give back the land to the farmers.

“It was only posturing on her behalf. Otherwise, she would not have hastily passed the law but would have taken time and help of experts to draft a comprehensive law,” said Mannan.

Shakeel Ahmed, Congress functionary in charge of West Bengal, is playing peacemaker between the TMC and the state unit of the Congress.