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Mamata’s INDIA Meeting Draws Adhir Chowdhury’s Rahul Gandhi Leadership Jibe
Mamata Banerjee attended a meeting of opposition parties in Delhi.
The parties discussed changes to voter lists and their concerns about the Election Commission.
They planned marches and protests in October and a larger rally in November.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury criticized Banerjee for joining the meeting.
He said Rahul Gandhi should lead the opposition alliance.
Chowdhury also said Banerjee had opposed Gandhi’s leadership in the past.
Banerjee said the opposition alliance was still united.
She accused the election authorities of removing genuine voters from voter lists.
The two parties are cooperating nationally even though they remain political rivals in West Bengal.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury questioned whether Mamata Banerjee now accepts Rahul Gandhi’s leadership of the opposition ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
Chowdhury attributed Banerjee’s renewed engagement with Congress to electoral losses in West Bengal and alleged that her party had split.
Banerjee attended a three-and-a-half-hour INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi on electoral-roll revisions and concerns about the Election Commission.
The bloc announced marches and demonstrations over the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, including a November 1 rally in Delhi.
Banerjee said the INDIA bloc remained united and demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
- Who
- Mamata Banerjee, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Omar Abdullah, Tejashwi Yadav and Supriya Sule.
- What
- Banerjee attended an INDIA bloc meeting, prompting Chowdhury to question her support for Rahul Gandhi’s leadership of the opposition.
- Where
- New Delhi, with the political rivalry between the Trinamool Congress and Congress continuing in West Bengal.
- When
- Wednesday, September 30; the meeting lasted three and a half hours.
- Why
- Opposition parties met to coordinate their response to the special intensive revision of electoral rolls and concerns about the Election Commission.
Congress Criticism
Mamata Banerjee and INDIA Bloc Position
Leadership of the opposition
Congress Criticism
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said Rahul Gandhi should lead the opposition alliance and suggested Banerjee had previously resisted his leadership.
Mamata Banerjee and INDIA Bloc Position
Banerjee’s attendance at the Congress-linked INDIA bloc meeting represented renewed engagement, but the reports do not say that she endorsed Rahul Gandhi as the alliance’s leader.
Reason for renewed cooperation
Congress Criticism
Chowdhury said Banerjee sought an alliance with Congress after electoral losses in West Bengal and a split in her party, while previously undermining Congress and the INDIA bloc.
Mamata Banerjee and INDIA Bloc Position
Banerjee said the INDIA bloc was “very much united” and participated in coordinated opposition action over electoral-roll and Election Commission concerns.
Election process
Congress Criticism
The opposition bloc said it would protest the special intensive revision and, according to Kharge, demand a return to ballot-paper voting instead of EVMs.
Mamata Banerjee and INDIA Bloc Position
Banerjee specifically accused the Election Commission of irregularities and manipulation, alleging that genuine voters had been removed from electoral rolls.
Key facts
- Meeting duration
- Three and a half hours
- Main issue
- Special intensive revision of electoral rolls
- Planned October action
- ‘Save Democracy’ marches from October 2 to 8 and demonstrations before district magistrates
- Election Commission march
- Opposition MPs plan to march to the Election Commission’s office on October 6
- Planned Delhi rally
- A larger opposition rally is planned for November 1
- Congress demand
- Mallikarjun Kharge said opposition parties agreed to demand a return to ballot-paper voting instead of EVMs
- Banerjee’s demand
- Immediate removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar
Quotes
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
Congress leader and former West Bengal Congress president
“As Mamata Banerjee has lost elections in West Bengal and her party has split, she wants an alliance with the Congress, after trying to wipe out our party in the last 15 years. All these years, TMC did everything to undermine the INDIA bloc and the Congress”
theprint.in
m.rediff.com
“Many so-called leaders had earlier opposed Rahul Gandhi’s leadership of the opposition bloc. But the reality is that only Rahul Gandhi can lead the alliance and he should be at the forefront”
theprint.in
m.rediff.com
Sources
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