No truce with Mamata: Adhir says TMC's 'atrocities' destroyed Congress in Bengal

Amid speculation over a broader political understanding between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Congress, party’s senior leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury asserted his anti-Mamata Banerjee stand and accused that her party’s “atrocities” destroyed Congress in West Bengal.

Chowdhury's remarks came three days after former West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee, addressing an Opposition rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on Sunday (November 1), began her speech by describing Sonia Gandhi as "my leader". Chowdhary was also present at the rally.

'TMC has wiped out Congress'

Making his position clear at a press conference at Baharampur in Murshidabad district on Wednesday (November 4), he said his opposition to Banerjee was rooted in his political experiences over the past 15 years and would not be diluted by recent developments at the national level.

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"Over the last 15 years, the TMC's atrocities have devastated the Congress. It is the TMC which has wiped out the Congress from various parts of Bengal through poaching and threats. Our organisational base has been broken because of the TMC's atrocities. These are not false allegations. Therefore, I am not withdrawing my opposition to Mamata Banerjee," Chowdhury said.

However, the former state Congress president refrained from making any prediction about the future course of relations between the two parties.

"I cannot say what will happen in the future. The national leadership will decide, and the state leadership is also there. We will see what happens, and I will speak again then," he said.

TMC's defeat in Assembly polls

Chowdhury has long been one of Banerjee's most vocal political adversaries in Bengal, frequently accusing the TMC of using political violence and intimidation to weaken the Congress.

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During much of its 15-year rule in West Bengal, Banerjee had repeatedly downplayed the Congress's electoral and political relevance in the state, rejecting calls for an alliance and maintaining that the party was strong enough to take on the BJP on its own. The TMC had also questioned Rahul Gandhi's leadership credentials and his ability to lead the INDIA bloc.

Chowdhury's position has also remained a point of friction within the broader Opposition camp, particularly as the Congress and the TMC have attempted to maintain a degree of coordination at the national level against the BJP.

Following its defeat in the Assembly polls in May, the TMC has occasionally adopted a conciliatory tone towards the Congress, while Chowdhury's persistent criticism of Banerjee has drawn sharp responses from her party, which has repeatedly refused to make any concessions to him.

Adhir's loss to Yusuf Pathan

The former six-term Baharampur MP had also triggered political speculation about a possible change in his approach towards the TMC when he spoke of the "pond and river" analogy in the context of the Opposition's fight against the BJP about a year and a half ago.

The remarks were interpreted in some political quarters as a possible indication that he was reconsidering his hostility towards the TMC. Chowdhury subsequently sought to dispel the speculation.

His opposition to Banerjee has been a defining feature of Bengal's Opposition politics and has helped bring the Congress and the Left closer during the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections, as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Chowdhury, who represented Baharampur in the Lok Sabha for six consecutive terms, lost the seat in the 2024 general elections to former cricketer Yusuf Pathan, the TMC candidate brought in from Gujarat.

(With agency inputs)