Even as Mamata Banerjee prepared for yet another flight to Delhi this month to discuss with Congress president Sonia Gandhi the possibilities of fielding a common Opposition candidate for Presidential elections, the Bengal Congress leadership once again dropped clear indications of a ‘partnership limited to President polls’ with Trinamool Congress by staging on Tuesday a joint walkout with left members from the State Assembly protesting ‘brutal lathi charge’ on the Marxist cadre that left more than 800, including a dozen of journalists injured on Monday.
Banerjee is scheduled to visit Delhi on Friday, Trinamool sources said.
Tuesday’s development takes place against the backdrop of a firm assertion by PCC president Adhir Chowdhury who said the Bengal unit of the Congress would limit its alliance with the Trinamool to the Presidential elections only.
“We will never go with Mamata Banerjee who has almost decimated the Congress by forcing our members to join her party by using State and money power,” Chowdhury said.
On Tuesday, in a discernible show of unity, the Congress MlAs led by leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan staged a walkout from the Assembly protesting arrest of left legislators and ‘brutal police lathi-charge’ on left cadre that left over 800 people injured on Monday.
A joint team of left and Congress MlAs on Tuesday met Governor KN Tripathi demanding his intervention in what they said “drastic drop in law and order and steady conversion of Bengal into a police State.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of people were still getting treatment in various hospitals following the Monday’s lathi-charge, sources said. “We have reports of about 800 left cadre including women getting injured in the Monday’s lath-charge,” said CPI(M) polit buro member and State secretary Suryakanto Mishra.
About a dozen journalists and 70 policemen were also injured in Monday’s free for all that many an observer said a desperate attempt by the left to retain its status of principal opposition that was fast being gobbled up by the BJP.
In a related development, police geared up for yet another showdown this time with the saffron outfit which was scheduled to gherao the lal Bazar police quarters on Thursday.