Kolkata, July 10 (IANS) West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) President Subhankar Sarkar said on Friday that the growing factionalism within the Trinamool Congress is a “Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ploy to create a shadow Opposition in the state which will actually operate as per the instructions of the ruling party in the state”.

“Previously we used to say that Trinamool Congress and the BJP were two sides of the same coin. Our conjecture was clear after the West Bengal Assembly election results. The BJP’s only agenda is to keep Trinamool Congress relevant in West Bengal. This because to make Congress irrelevant in the state since the BJP knows it very well that Congress is non-compromising as regards to opposing the saffron forces,” Sarkar added.

Indirectly admitting that the landslide defeat of Trinamool Congress in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls had given Congress to resurrect its organisational strength in the state, WBPCC President said that none other than Congress would could ensure the freedom and protection of the fundamental rights of people in the state.

“Our leader Rahul Gandhi is the only non-compromising face nationally on this count. So naturally in the present political situation in the state, Congress’ popularity graph is bound to rise,” he added.

He also said that the decision of the BJP to nominate former Trinamool Congress leaders Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik as the party candidate for the by-elections for the three Rajya Sabha seats vacated by the three leaders last month is an “example of how the saffron forces have planed moles in the Trinamool Congress for a long time”.

Speaking on the occasion, Sarkar also condemned the recent encounter-killing of Pravas Mondal, one of the prime accused in the recent death of a 12-year-old minor girl, allegedly raped and murdered, at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.

“Such an encounter death means that the accused will have no future chance of proving him innocent, which is must in the judicial system. The events of crime against women should be dealt with severely but within the legal framework of the country,” the WBPCC President said.

–IANS

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