Kolkata, July 23 (IANS) After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave a subtle message to Congress by refraining from attacking it at Trinamool Congress’ annual Martyrs’ Day rally, the state leaders of the grand old party are treading cautiously, accepting this “silence” as her “initial friendly gesture”, ahead of the 2026 state Assembly polls.

At the same time, as regards the Chief Minister’s war cry announcing sustained protests against the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states, the Bengal Congress leaders are taking that war cry with a pinch of salt.

They feel that before seeking Congress’ support on this issue, the Chief Minister should elaborate on her government’s plans to prevent such harassment by taking positive measures to arrest brain-drain and workers’ migration from West Bengal to other states.

On July 21, while addressing the annual Martyrs’ Day rally, the Chief Minister launched a scathing attack against the BJP and CPI(M) and accused them of having a clandestine “understanding” in West Bengal.

However, in her address, the Chief Minister carefully avoided her pet version of putting “BJP-Congress-CPI(M)” within the same bracket in the West Bengal perspective, which she had done till the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

According to West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee leader Ashok Bhattacharya, it does not matter for the country’s oldest national party whether the Chief Minister remains silent on it or not at the Martyrs’ Day rally.

“First, the Chief Minister should make her stand clear on Congress both at the state level and the national level. She should explain why Trinamool Congress ensured BJP’s victory in Assembly elections in certain other states like Goa and Tripura by dividing the anti-BJP votes,” Bhattacharya added.

Former state Congress president and five-time former party Lok Sabha member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, too, feels that the Chief Minister’s silence about Congress at the Martyrs’ Day rally proves nothing, since there had been several instances in the past where she proved that “Trinamool Congress and BJP are made for each other”.

According to senior state Congress leader and party spokesman Soumya Aich Roy, while Congress unequivocally condemned the attack and harassment of Bengalis in BJP ruled states and also protested against it, the party’s question for the Chief Minister is that what her government is doing to prevent such harassment by taking positive measures to arrest brain-drain and workers’ migration from the West Bengal to other state.

“Mamata Banerjee is trying to tap into the Bengali sentiment by bringing reference to Bhasa Andolan. Instead of doing this, she must provide jobs to the people so that this migration stops,” he said.

–IANS

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