Kolkata, July 23 || 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.