Kolkata, June 4 (IANS) An opportunity has emerged for the Congress to expand its organisational network and political base in West Bengal following the creation of a vacuum in the state’s opposition space after the disintegration of the principal opposition party in the state, Trinamool Congress, five-time Congress Lok Sabha member and former state party president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Thursday.

Speaking to IANS, he also described the formation of a new bloc in the Trinamool Congress Legislative Party in the West Bengal Assembly, led by expelled party legislator Ritabrata Banerjee as the new Leader of the Opposition, as nothing but a circus.

“What can I say? There is a circus going on. What else can the developments be described as?” Chowdhury said.

He also indirectly described the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the mastermind behind such developments without directly naming the current ruling party at the Centre.

“The party which is in power in the country today is the main ‘Baazigar’ behind this circus,” Chowdhury said.

When asked by IANS whether the current situation in the opposition space in West Bengal following the disintegration of the Trinamool Congress would ultimately benefit the country’s oldest national party in the state, Chowdhury replied in the affirmative.

“The question is not whether it will be good or bad for Congress in West Bengal because of the evolving situation. Congress, as a political party, is ready to move forward with its political agenda everywhere, including West Bengal. Now, in West Bengal, where Trinamool Congress is already out of power and in such a chaotic situation, obviously there is a chance for us to strengthen our position in the state. During the previous regime, we were neither allowed to carry out our organisational activities in the state nor allowed to contest elections in a democratic manner,” Chowdhury said.

In the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls, Congress ended its tally by winning two Assembly constituencies. This time, the party contested the polls independently after breaking away from its seat-sharing arrangement with the CPI(M)-led Left Front, which had been in place since the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections.

–IANS

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