Congress trying to forge alliance of all like-minded opposition parties against BJP: MP

Noor, the second term Congress MP from Malda North, is the niece of the late party stalwart Gani Khan Chowdhury.

Congress Lok Sabha MP Mausam Benazir Noor Thursday advocated an alliance between her party and the ruling Trinamool Congress in the next general election to stop the march of the BJP in West Bengal.

Noor, the second term Congress MP from Malda North, is the niece of the late party stalwart Gani Khan Chowdhury.

Reacting to Noor's statement, West Bengal state Congress president Somen Mitra said it was her "personal opinion" and added that the issue of the alliance will be decided by the party high command.

"We are trying to forge an alliance of all like-minded opposition parties across the country to defeat BJP (in the next Lok Sabha election). In Bengal, I feel, in order to stop the march of BJP, we should forge an alliance with TMC," Noor said addressing a party programme in Malda district.

"In our party, everybody has the right to express their opinion. She has also expressed her personal opinion. The final decision on this issue will be taken by the AICC," Mitra later told PTI.

The TMC leadership declined to comment on Noor's statement.

The West Bengal Congress leadership is divided on the issue of the alliance, with one section favouring a tie-up with Mamata Banerjee-led TMC and the other with the CPI(M).

Incidentally, Noor's uncle Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury, Congress MP from Malda South, is in favour of forging an alliance with the TMC. He and Congress MLA Maniul Haque had met TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee at his residence on June 28 and had favoured an alliance with the TMC.

The section within Congress which is against an alliance with the TMC had advocated that it is TMC which has tried to "politically finish off" the Congress in the state by poaching its MLAs.

The BJP state leadership mocked Noor's statement and said the Congress is desperately looking for allies as it is "confident" that it will not be able to win a single seat on its own.

"Just like in other parts of the country where Congress is looking for allies, in Bengal too it is doing the same thing as it is confident that it won't be able to win a single seat on its own," BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said.

The BJP, which has made inroads in Bengal, stood second to the Trinamool Congress in the panchayat polls held in May, to emerge as the principal challenger to the TMC, leaving its two traditional rivals — the Congress and the CPI(M) — fuming.

The state Congress recently witnessed a change of guard with Mitra replacing Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a staunch critic of the TMC. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had asked the newly-appointed state Congress unit to strengthen the organisation in the state.

Out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, the TMC has 34. The Congress has four MPs while the BJP and the CPI(M) have two MPs each.