No ‘bonhomie’ with TMC: Congress

Kolkata: Brushing aside the speculation of a growing bonhomie between Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Shakeel Ahmed asked the people not to “read too much between the lines” and said coming together on the issue of demonetisation does not mean “forging an electoral alliance.”

“Do not read too much between the lines. Both the leaders are against the Centre’s demonetisation move and have come together to fight. This does not mean there will be an alliance between the parties,” Mr Ahmed said on Thursday.

His comment comes just two days after Mr Banerjee along with Mr Gandhi and other regional parties put up a united face against the demonetisation and addressed a joint press conference. This development in Delhi ruffled feathers in both Congress and CPI(M) headquarters in West Bengal. There were speculations that there was a growing bonhomie between two leaders and that would impact on the informal alliance between Congress and CPI(M).

To douse the simmering discontent in state Congress, the party sent Mr Ahmed to talk to the leaders.

“We are running a government in Bihar as an alliance partner of JD(U), but Nitish Kumar had earlier supported the demonetisation. So does that mean that our alliance does not exist? The same logic also applies to West Bengal in regards to relationship between Congress and TMC,” Mr Ahmed said.

Responding to queries whether there would be joint protests as both Congress and Trinamul Congress were on the same on the issue of demonetisation, Mr Ahmed said, “No decision will be taken without taking the state Congress into confidence. At present, there is no such possibility of a joint movement. But yes, both Mr Gandhi and Ms Banerjee have the same mindset when it comes to demonetisation.”

“Our concentration for now is on the issue of demonetisation and corruption charges against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There are several chief ministers in the country who have a lot of corruption cases and allegations against them. We are not here to talk about it,” he said.

It may be also noted that Ms Banerjee on Wednesday extended her warm wishes and greetings to members of the Congress party on its 132nd foundation day.

According to Mr Ahmed, the entire demonetisation move was directed to divert the attention of the Opposition parties from Prime Minister’s personal corruption charges. “What has happened in the name of the demonetisation is the role reversal of Robin Hood. About 1.4 lakh 40 thousand crore rupees of the industrialists have been written off, while the poor’s money is stuck in banks,” Mr Ahmed said.