Team News Riveting
New Delhi, November 25
The relationship between Congress and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) hit a new low when Mamata Banerjee said it was not constitutionally mandated to meet Sonia Gandhi every time during her visit to the national capital.
“Work is first… Why should we meet Sonia every time? It is not constitutionally mandated,” she said when reporters asked if she was meeting the Congress President. West Bengal Chief Minister on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and raised the issue of the BSF’s territorial jurisdiction in the state, demanding that it be withdrawn.
Banerjee said that she had no plans to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi during this visit, and added that it isn’t ‘constitutionally mandated’ to meet Gandhi every time she is in the capital.
“This time I sought time only from the prime minister. The leaders are all busy with Punjab polls.
Congress party has desperately tried to sway the TMC and did not field a candidate against Mamata Banerjee in the by-poll as a “friendly gesture.” It came after Mamata Banerjee had a meeting with Sonia Gandhi. But Mamata soon indicated that she was least interested for any tie-up with Congress that she had left to form TMC.
The indication soon turned into action with the exodus of key Congress leaders to the TMC. After Goa, the latest jolt to Congress came in Meghalaya where 12 of its 17 MLAs, including former chief minister Mukul Sangma, joined TMC.
Overwhelmed by defeating BJP in Bengal in May this year and retaining power for the third term, Mamata Banerjee has given an overt signal that she will be the face against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in national politics. While BJP is least baffled, Congress is in a fix. For, TMC is projecting itself as the substitute of Congress.
