Hard on the heels of union minister home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Assam, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee reached the north-eastern state to inaugurate his party’s office in Guwahati. And the young leader made the TMC’s stance against the Citizenship Amendment Act clear while speaking to the media.
“The BJP is using CAA as a carrot. Shah speaks so much on CAA implementation in West Bengal but why nothing about that in Assam? Even chief minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma gives varied opinions on CAA while speaking in different districts and even in the city. We completely oppose this draconian law. If you want to stop immigrants, it’s the BSF that has to do it, not the state government,” he said.
Abhishek, who is TMC chairperson and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, has been leading his party’s efforts to broaden its presence across the country, with particular focus on the Northeast, in a bid to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party on the national stage.
“No one is safe in this country. No political leader who wants to speak against them, no police who perform honestly, no doctors, no journalists who speak straight,” he said, targeting the BJP. “In Meghalaya and Tripura there will be a tough fight as we are the main opposition in the Northeast now.”
He also indicated an inclination to form an anti-BJP alliance. “We will welcome and love to shake hands with any political party who wants to defeat the BJP,” he said.
The TMC MP also taunted the Congress, saying these days most of its leaders were busy on social media, specifically Twitter, rather than working on the ground. “So everybody in Congress is now moving to TMCseeing it as a better option,” he said.
Abhishek also indicated that the inauguration of the Trinamool Congress office is the beginning and the party will push hard to expand its influence in Assam and the rest of the Northeast.
Congress’s Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury hit back at the TMC over its MP’s comments. “The BJP attacks the Congress and the TMC too attacks the Congress. Where has the TMC fought, tell me? Rahul Gandhi has not stolen coal. After nine hours of questioning, he questions the Congress. Everyone knows what’s going on,” said Chowdhury, taking a dig at Abhishek recently being quizzed by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a coal scam case.
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