Cong needs no advice in Bengal: Jairam

The ongoing war of words between the Congress and Trinamool Congress threatened to snowball into a full-fledged dogfight even as the UPA underdog in Bengal bared its fangs on Sunday.

Congress leaders from Delhi — including Pranab Mukherjee, Jairam Ramesh and Shakeel Ahmed — joined cause with State leaders like Deepa Dasmunshi, Adhir Chowdhury and PCC president Pradip Bhattacharya, who complained of mass persecution of their workers by Trinamool goons.

They dared the big brother to repeat its recent electoral feat in the panchayat elections, hinting thereby the two parties were well on their way to contest the rural polls separately.

Union Rural Development Minister Ramesh said, “The Congress has not taken VRS in Bengal and needed no advice from any party on taking out rallies.” Ramesh made the remarks in a circuitous reference to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s vehement objection to last week’s Youth Congress procession led by Dasmunshi and Mausam Benazir Noor, decrying Trinamool’s expansionist policy at the cost of the Congress.

The rally had invited immediate retribution from the UPA partner whose State woman’s wing chief Chandrima Bhattacharya said it was upon the Congress to decide “whether it wanted to take a VRS or automatic retirement.”

Banerjee had not only reminded the Congress that it was dependent on the Trinamool in Delhi but also dared the alliance partner to quit the Bengal Government if it so wanted.

The exchange of salvos came on a day when Mamata Banerjee completed an eventful six months in power.

Ramesh was addressing a panchayati raj sammelan organised in Kolkata by the PCC to protest the State Government’s recent efforts to bureaucratise village panchayats and clip the wings of the elected representatives.

Ramesh and Banerjee are not known to have used unkind words for each other in the past. The reason for the Union Minister’s outrage was Banerjee’s refusal to accompany him during his recent visit to Jangalmahal.

Ramesh got prompt backing from Shakeel Ahmed, Congress in charge of Bengal, who warned all parties against taking the Congress lightly. “We are not weak in Bengal and can prove our merit if we are pushed to do so,” he added.

Pranab Mukherjee, who also addressed a full-house at Netaji Indoor Stadium, said, “Panchayats are the basis of the democratic structure and should not be robbed of democratic powers by allowing the bureaucracy to superimpose them.”

He added, “No development would be possible in rural India without local participation and if the bureaucrats are given overriding powers then the aspirations of 120 crore people will never be fulfilled.”

In order to facilitate development work Banerjee has recently clipped the wings of the elected rural bodies by creating a “three-tier administrative structure” led by the DM, SDM and BDO to carry out developmental projects in the districts and below.