Mamata Banerjee Urges INDIA Bloc Unity Against BJP, Rejects TMC 'Traitors'

Kolkata: TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday appealed to all INDIA bloc constituents, including the Congress and the CPI(M), in West Bengal to bury their differences and unite against the BJP, while drawing a firm line against rebels within her own party, saying "traitors" would never be taken back.

Addressing the annual July 21 Martyrs' Day rally organised by the Kalighat faction of the TMC near Birla Planetarium here, Banerjee said the fight against the BJP was bigger than individual or political egos.

"I want everyone to unite under the banner of the INDIA alliance in Bengal to fight the BJP. I don't have any ego. I urge others also to keep aside their differences and fight together," the former West Bengal chief minister said.

Though she did not name the Congress or the CPI(M), her remarks were seen as an appeal to the TMC's INDIA bloc partners, with whom it has maintained an uneasy relationship in West Bengal despite being part of the national opposition alliance.

The appeal came on a day when the TMC itself appeared sharply divided.

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While Banerjee's faction held the Martyrs' Day programme near Birla Planetarium, the breakaway faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee organised a parallel rally on Mayo Road in central Kolkata, highlighting the organisational crisis that has gripped the party since the BJP came to power in the state earlier this year.

Banerjee extended an olive branch to opposition parties, but adopted a combative tone towards the rebels.

"I challenge the traitors to directly join the BJP and fight elections," she said, accusing them of functioning as proxies of the saffron party.

She asked the dissidents to stop acting as the BJP's "side pillow" and instead formally join the party.

"If you want to support the BJP, go to the BJP. The more of you who leave, the happier I will be. My students and youth workers are there to fill every vacancy," she said.

"Those thieves have gone to the BJP. I will never take them back," Banerjee asserted.

The TMC chief said the rebels, with the help of the BJP, are trying to take away the party's "twin flower" symbol but can't take it away as she is the founder-chairperson.

Banerjee also announced that she would soon begin touring districts across West Bengal.

"After this, I will travel across the districts. I want to see who has the power to stop me," she said in an apparent swipe at the rebel camp.

Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to prevent her TMC camp from holding the Martyrs' Day programme, alleging that party workers had to guard the stage throughout the previous night after it was targeted.