Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury reason for alliance not working out in Bengal: TMC’s Derek O’Brien

New Delhi, January 25

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien on Thursday held West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury responsible for an alliance not working out between the two parties in West Bengal.

The remarks came a day after West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee announced that her party will fight the Lok Sabha polls “alone” in the state.

Claiming that Chowdhury was the reason the alliance did not work out in West Bengal, O’Brien said the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) had many detractors but only two—the BJP and Chowdhury—have repeatedly spoken out against the bloc.

“After the general elections, if the Congress does its job and defeats the BJP on a substantial number of seats, the Trinamool Congress will very much be a part of the front that believes and fights for the Constitution,” O’Brien told reporters here.

Banerjee’s sudden comments on Wednesday forced the Congress to adopt a conciliatory approach with party general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh asserting that the opposition bloc INDIA “cannot be imagined without Mamata Banerjee”.