New Delhi: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today held deliberations with party leaders from West Bengal on the strategy ahead amid the ongoing political slug fest between Trinamool Congress and BJP over the Saradha chit fund case.
At the AICC briefing here, party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed, previously the AICC-in-charge for West Bengal, reacted cautiously to the controversy saying that while there should be “no political vendetta” but “law should take its own course” in the matter. The meeting chaired by Gandhi was attended among others by PCC chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, CLP leader Md Sohrab, former PCC chiefs Pradip Bhattacharya and Manas Bhunia and party's old guard Somen Mitra, who quit Trinamool Congress and rejoined Congress.
In the meeting, Gandhi asked them to focus on strengthening Congress and raise issues like an aggressive Opposition in the state, where the assembly polls are due in mid-2016.
At the AICC briefing, Ahmed said, “Congress' stand is clear. Law should take its own course. But at the same time one should not work with political vendetta.”
On Mamata Banerjee maintaining that when TMC leader Madan Mitra can be arrested only because of a photograph he clicked with Saradha scam accused, the same treatment should also be given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had a photograph with the Sahara chief, the Congress leader termed it as a valid point.
“She has a valid point if it is only about a photo an there is no other corroborrative evidence (to link Mitra with the scam). Allegations are levelled about misusing CBI due to political reasons. Even against this government, allegations of CBI misuse have been levelled,” he said.
Mamata had wondered whether being photographed with an offender was ground enough for arrest. “There are photographs of the Prime Minister with Sahara boss who is currently in jail. Will you arrest the PM?” she had asked.
Trinamool Congress also raised the issue in both Houses of Parliament today. Congress has, however, been guarded in its response on the Saradha scam so far.
Congress and Trinamool Congress had fought the last Assembly elections in West Bengal in alliance that scripted the historic win marking an end to the over three-decade Left rule in the state with Mamata Banerjee coming into power with a huge mandate.
Banerjee later broke away from the UPA and the relationship between her party and Congress turned only bad from worse more so in the state.
There was some kind of a thaw in the relationship between the two at the Centre after Narendra Modi's juggernaut that saw BJP coming to power and Banerjee recently attended an international seminar organised by Congress on Jawaharlal Nehru in the national capital.
While most of the Congress leaders of West Bengal are not in favour of reviving relationship with Banerjee and want the Congress either to go solo or enter into some sort of arrangement with the Left, Banerjee's personal equations with the top leadership of Congress remains a factor and a revival of ties between the two cannot be ruled altogether.
