Congress calls for president's rule in Bengal over ED attack amid '2-seat' rift with Mamata Banerjee's TMC

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, in-charge of West Bengal, said there is now law and order in the state.

Kolkata: The rift in the INDIA bloc in West Bengal appeared to be widening on Friday, as the Congress demanded that President's rule be imposed in the Mamata Banerjee-ruled state. The harsh remark, which displayed growing acrimony between the two INDIA partners who had vowed to jointly challenge the BJP juggernaut in 2024 general elections, came in reaction to the TMC supporters' attack on Enforcement Directorate officials.

West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (L) and chief minister Mamata Banerjee (R). (File Photo)

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, in-charge of West Bengal, said there is now law and order in the state. He said it won't surprise him if officials are murdered in the TMC-ruled state.

"After the attack by goons of the ruling government on ED officials, it is clear that there is no law and order in the state. Today, they were injured, tomorrow they can be murdered. Such a thing would not come as a surprise to me," he said."We demand that President’s rule should be immediately imposed in West Bengal," he added.

Trinamool's barb in return was equally sharp.

"Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is an agent of BJP," TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said.

"The real intention of Mamata Banerjee is out. They are saying that they (TMC) will give two seats (to Congress) in West Bengal. Those seats already have Congress MPs. What new are they giving us? .We won these two seats by defeating Mamata Banerjee and the BJP. What favour are they doing to us?" he said.

"Who will trust her (Mamata Banerjee)? It is Mamata who needs Congress to win... Congress can fight and is capable of winning more seats on its own. We will show. We don't need to keep these two seats on Mamata's pity," he added.

TMC said Chowdhury was behaving like a BJP person.

"In 2021 Assembly polls, TMC fought the battle alone but Adhir Chowdhury's party fought in alliance with CPM and got zero. What is he talking about? TMC doesn't need anybody to fight the BJP, but for the sake of INDIA alliance, our leader Mamata Banerjee is fully cooperating. But, Congress is playing a double-faced game," he said yesterday.

Banerjee's TMC won 22 seats; the BJP won 18 seats.

Mamata Banerjee had recently told her party's workers that only TMC could defeat the BJP in Bengal.

With inputs from PTI, ANI