West Bengal Congress invites JD-U, RJD, Left to Nehru seminar

The West Bengal Congress has invited Bihar allies JD(U) and RJD to attend a seminar which is being organised to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on Saturday. The victory of the Grand Alliance in Bihar and the brilliant performance of the Congress has come as a shot in the arm for the embattled party unit in Bengal. The invitation shows that state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury clearly wants the bonhomie of the neighbouring state to continue in Bengal. He has also invited the CPI(M), RSP and the Forward Bloc for the event which will be held at G.D. Birla Sabhaghar. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will be the main speaker.

State Congress spokesperson Om Prakash Mishra said that his party had invited leaders of secular and like-mined parties for the Nehru programme. “The Modi government is persistently trying to undermine the legacy of the first Prime Minister of India. It is the need of the hour that we remember Nehru’s ideals, principles and teachings,” he added.

When asked why the Trinamul Congress was not invited, Mr Mishra claimed that the ruling party was the symbol of political intolerance. The state leaders may be averse to Mamata Banerjee’s party but Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday reached out to the Bengal chief minister by sending her Diwali greetings. Ms Banerjee immediately reciprocated the gesture.

The state Congress president pointed out that it was merely an exchange of political courtesy between two leaders and one must not read more into it. Political observers, however, feel that the Sonia-Mamata camaraderie may lead to new political and electoral equations in the state before the next Assembly election. “Remember in Bihar, JD(U), RJD and Congress had formed the Grand Alliance which was supported by Didi who had appealed to the voters of Bihar to support it. A Grand Alliance can also be floated in Bengal,” a Congress leader said.

State JD(U) president Amitabha Dutta and state RJD president Brinda Prasad Rai said they had received the Congress invitation and would attend the Nehru event on Saturday.