Kolkata, (Samajweekly) Senior West Bengal Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha member Pradip Bhattacharya has written to Rahul Gandhi, urging him to include Kolkata in the proposed route for the Bharat Nyay Yatra that will commence from Imphal on January 14 and conclude in Mumbai after covering 85 districts in 14 states.
In his letter, Bhattacharya has requested Rahul Gandhi to explore the possibilities so that besides Kolkata, the rally can also pass through districts like Birbhum, East Burdwan, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Nadia, among others.
Bhattacharya said the rally passing through Kolkata and other districts is crucial to boost the morale of the grassroots-level party workers.
The letter from the senior Congress leader came just a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ruled out the possibility of any kind of understanding with other political parties in the state for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“Let INDIA bloc be there nationally. But in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress will put up the fight. Remember, only the Trinamool can teach the BJP a lesson in West Bengal. Trinamool can show the path to the entire country. No other party is capable of doing that,” the Chief Minister had said.
Political observers feel that that the letter from Bhattacharya to Rahul Gandhi is also an indirect indication to the party high command that if the state leadership gets support from the central leadership, Congress can put up a good show in Bengal without depending on any kind of alliance with the state’s ruling party.
In fact, state Congress President and veteran Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Friday that while the decision on alliance rests with the party high command, personally it does not matter to him whether there is any alliance.
“Even in 2019, I contested on my own and got elected by defeating both the BJP and Trinamool candidates,” Chowdhury said.
Both Chowdhury and Bhattacharya are against any kind of alliance with the Trinamool in West Bengal.
