In a strong jibe at the West Bengal CPI (M) party, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh on December 29 said that there is no ‘Left’ here in West Bengal and added that the ‘Left party people don’t even have the right to sit with TMC.’
While talking about its equation with the alliance with INDIA bloc parties in West Bengal, Ghosh said that CM Mamata Banerjee has stated unequivocally that the INDIA coalition will fight in the country and that the TMC will lead the anti-BJP campaign in Bengal.
“Mamata Banerjee has made it clear that the INDIA alliance will fight in the country and the TMC will give leadership against the anti-BJP fight in Bengal. We defeated the BJP in 2021. The CPI (M) and Congress together got zero and tried to give an advantage to the BJP by dividing votes. The final decision regarding seat sharing will be taken by Mamata Banerjee. There is no ‘Left’ here. ‘TMC ke saath baithne ka aukat bhi Left logo ko nahi hai,” TMC leader Kunal Ghosh told ANI.
Earlier in the day, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was unanimously re-elected as President of Janata Dal (United) at a meeting of the party’s national executive in Delhi on December 29 afternoon. The Bihar Chief Minister was re-appointed minutes after aide Lalan Singh stepped down.
Addressing the media after the meeting, JD(U) leader KC Tyagi said, “After the resignation of Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, CM Nitish Kumar has been elected as the new national president of the party…”
Tyagi further called the Bihar CM the ‘prime minister of ideas’ of the Opposition bloc INDIA- an alliance forged for putting up a united front against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls under the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance umbrella.
“(Bihar CM) Nitish Kumar is the convenor and Prime Minister of the ideas of the INDIA alliance. He has given so much priority to the issue of social justice,” KC Tyagi said.
Earlier, Bihar Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary confirmed the offer of resignation from Lalan Singh saying, “There is a national executive meeting of JD (U) going on. If they accept our proposal, then Nitish Kumar will be the party president. Lalan Singh told CM Nitish Kumar that he will be busy with elections, so he wants to hand over the post of party president to him and Nitish Kumar accepted it…”
Speaking on the same, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said that it is a good thing that CM Nitish has become chief of his party.
” If he (Nitish Kumar) has become the president of his party (JD(U)) then it is the decision of their party. He has been the President of JD(U) earlier as well. He is a senior leader of his party so it is a good thing if he has become the President of JD(U).”
Earlier in the day, some members of JDU were seen raising slogans, “Desh ka Pradhan Mantri kaisa ho? Nitish Kumar jaisa ho”, outside the Constitution Club in Delhi, where the national executive meeting was held.
The meeting comes just days after the critical INDIA-Alliance meeting in Delhi. The JDU, which is part of the alliance, will now be getting into hectic parleys with the Congress on the alliance combination for the State.
Many JDU leaders are making a pitch for Nitish to lead the INDIA bloc, even as Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal publicly announced Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge as prospective PM Candidate.
At the national executive meeting venue, posters featuring Bihar CM Nitish Kumar read ‘Pradesh ne pehchana, ab desh bhi pehchanega’ (The state of Bihar recognised him, now the nation will) have also been put up. However, on the question of the invitation for the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22, 2024, Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi said that his party has not been invited yet for the ceremony.
“We have not been invited yet, but if we get the invitation, our party will attend it without any hesitation…” he added.
(with inputs from ANI)
