DURGAPUR/BANKURA/KULTI: Scripting a new chapter in the state and national politics, Congress vice-president
Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that his party would share power with the Left in the state while urging Congress workers to work unitedly with the communists to defeat Trinamool Congress.
“A Congress and Left Front government will come to power in the state after the election,“ he said at three rallies he addressed at Kulti, Durgapur and Bankura, ending the ambiguity over the unique partnership that had so far been sought to be underplayed and carefully referred to as `seat-sharing' by functionaries of both parties, which continue to be bitter rivals in Kerala.
Rahul told Congress workers that he had acceded to their wishes (for a tie-up) and it was now time to deliver. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi told party workers at three rallies in West Bengal on Saturday that they should “hold hands with Left Front and defeat Trinamool“.“You all wanted this (tie-up) and it has happened,“ he said.
Rahul lashed out at CM Mamata Banerjee, calling the flyover that collapsed in Kolkata this week a symbol of corruption. He added that there was no difference between her and PM Narendra Modi when it came to crushing dissent.“Mamata Banerjee does in Bengal what Narendra Modiji does in JNU,“ he said.
The alliance, after decades of bitter and often bloody rivalry , represents a bold gamble by Rahul and CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury , who strongly pitched for the electoral understanding as the only option of posing a credible challenge to Mamata.
Rahul's rallies in Bengal broke new ground as the mainstream Red rallied behind the Congress tricolour in Burdwan, putting behind a gory history that includes the Sainbari killings n 1970, when armed CPM activists killed members of the Sain family , Congress supporters, for not switching political loyalties.Forty-six years on, Rahul, taking the dais at Niyamatpur, asserted that the alliance is going to form the next government in Bengal.
BJP hits out at TMC for `links with firm'
BJP on Saturday alleged that as Union railway minister, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had awarded a project to IVRCL, the beleaguered firm constructing the collapsed flyover, though “it was blacklisted in 2009“.“Investigations are required as there is suspicion of a quid pro quo arrangement between the company and Trinamool. We have now come to know that Trinamool member Sanjay Bakshi's nephew Rajat got a sub-contract from the company in the flyover project,“ BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said.
...But skips politics on visit to siteWhen he arrived at the site of this week's flyover collapse in Kolkata on Saturday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi spent more time with engineers than party colleagues, inquiring about lapses in construction work, as well as the rescue operation and casualties. He headed for Vivekananda Road near Burrabazaar immediately after his arrival in the West bengal capital around 9.30am. “He was trying to assess if there were any human lapses in monitoring the construction work,“ said an engineer. “There has been a tragedy here, so I wanted to give whatever support I can. I don't want to speak about politics here,“ he said after a 15-minute stop at a hospital where he met many of the injured.