NEW DELHI: Is Adir Ranjan Chouwdhury on his way out of the Congress? Well, we do not know for now, but the West Bengal Congess leader has surely dropped clear hints of rebellion amid imminent change of leadership in the state unit. The West Bengal Congress leader, who represented Behrampore Lok Sabha constituency for five terms, lost the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan of the Trinamool Congress.He lost his stronghold of Baharampur by nearly 74,000 votes. Adhir, a staunch critic of ruling Trinamool Congress, resigned as the president of the West Bengal unit after the Lok Sabha elections.
In a strongly-worded post on social media, Adhir attacked the Congress high command for reportedly asking the state unit to go soft on Mamata Banerjee‘s Trinamool Congress.
“Who else other than us will speak on behalf of our party workers who are being beaten up every day by the ruling Trinamool Congress activists in West Bengal? The ruling party in the state is trying to break Congress on a daily basis. Despite officially being a part of the INDIA bloc, they have not stopped oppressing us,” the West Bengal Congress leader said in his post.
Asserting that the rank and file of the party at the grassroots is against any tie-up with Trinamool, Adhir said, “Delhi needs to speak to those party workers in West Bengal who are struggling daily and protesting on the streets to keep the party flag. Their opinion is important and hence they should also be called to Delhi.”
“I will be there on the streets with my party colleagues and carry forward their movement. I will not compromise with injustice. I will never do that,” Adhir added.
Adhir has been vocal about his opposition to Trinamool Congress and has openly targeted the West Bengal chief minister, mcuh to the discomfort of the party’s high command.
A latest example of this was seen when the Congress expressed solidarity with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee over the developments at the NITI Aayog meeting, while on the same day, Chowdhury wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, alleging that West Bengal is in an “anarchic condition” and sought her intervention to “restore law and order” in the state.
In fact, Adhir was instrumental in ensuring that the Congress did not align with the Trinamool in the last Lok Sabha and also assembly elections. However, Congress bid to contest these two elections in alliance with the Left Front failed to make any impact as the party failed to open its account in either of the two elections.
After losing his seat and the grand old party’s drubbing in Lok Sabha elections in the state, Adhir has been isolated within the Congress, with the high command gradually distancing itself from his acerbic attacks on Mamata. The West Bengal chief minister, on her part, has often accused Adhir of working as an agent of the BJP.
Dropping hints at the widening gap with the party leadership, Adhir recently claimed that he got to know during a meeting that he was no longer the state Congress chief. “I was aware that a meeting had been called under my presidency and I was still the West Bengal Congress president but during the meeting, Ghulam Ali Mir while addressing said that the former president is also here. At that time, I got to know I had become former president (of West Bengal Congress),” Adhir said.
The Congress is in the process of carrying out changes in the West Bengal unit. Congress general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal recently held a meeting with senior party leaders from the state and discussed several issues, including ties with the ruling Trinamool Congress. The meeting was attended by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, general secretary AICC in-charge West Bengal Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Pradip Bhattacharya, among others.
Meanwhile, in an interesting twist, Union minister and Republican Party of India (A) leader Ramdas Athavale has extended Adhir an invite to join the NDA.
“I request Adhir Ranjan ji that if he is being insulted in Congress, then he should leave Congress. I invite him to join NDA or my party RPI,” Athavale said. “It is because he (Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury) lost from West Bengal that he is being ignored and insulted. Due to this attitude of Congress, many people left the party and joined BJP,” the Union minister added.
Clearly, the road ahead for Adhir within the Congress appears to be bumpy. Assembly elections in West Bengal is due in 2026. If the Congress decides to join hands with Mamata, it may lose Adhir and also its alliance with the Left in the state. But that should not be a problem for the grand old party as already they are political rivals in Kerala despite being part of INDIA bloc at the national level.
In a strongly-worded post on social media, Adhir attacked the Congress high command for reportedly asking the state unit to go soft on Mamata Banerjee‘s Trinamool Congress.
“Who else other than us will speak on behalf of our party workers who are being beaten up every day by the ruling Trinamool Congress activists in West Bengal? The ruling party in the state is trying to break Congress on a daily basis. Despite officially being a part of the INDIA bloc, they have not stopped oppressing us,” the West Bengal Congress leader said in his post.
Asserting that the rank and file of the party at the grassroots is against any tie-up with Trinamool, Adhir said, “Delhi needs to speak to those party workers in West Bengal who are struggling daily and protesting on the streets to keep the party flag. Their opinion is important and hence they should also be called to Delhi.”
“I will be there on the streets with my party colleagues and carry forward their movement. I will not compromise with injustice. I will never do that,” Adhir added.
Adhir has been vocal about his opposition to Trinamool Congress and has openly targeted the West Bengal chief minister, mcuh to the discomfort of the party’s high command.
A latest example of this was seen when the Congress expressed solidarity with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee over the developments at the NITI Aayog meeting, while on the same day, Chowdhury wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, alleging that West Bengal is in an “anarchic condition” and sought her intervention to “restore law and order” in the state.
In fact, Adhir was instrumental in ensuring that the Congress did not align with the Trinamool in the last Lok Sabha and also assembly elections. However, Congress bid to contest these two elections in alliance with the Left Front failed to make any impact as the party failed to open its account in either of the two elections.
After losing his seat and the grand old party’s drubbing in Lok Sabha elections in the state, Adhir has been isolated within the Congress, with the high command gradually distancing itself from his acerbic attacks on Mamata. The West Bengal chief minister, on her part, has often accused Adhir of working as an agent of the BJP.
Dropping hints at the widening gap with the party leadership, Adhir recently claimed that he got to know during a meeting that he was no longer the state Congress chief. “I was aware that a meeting had been called under my presidency and I was still the West Bengal Congress president but during the meeting, Ghulam Ali Mir while addressing said that the former president is also here. At that time, I got to know I had become former president (of West Bengal Congress),” Adhir said.
The Congress is in the process of carrying out changes in the West Bengal unit. Congress general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal recently held a meeting with senior party leaders from the state and discussed several issues, including ties with the ruling Trinamool Congress. The meeting was attended by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, general secretary AICC in-charge West Bengal Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Pradip Bhattacharya, among others.
Meanwhile, in an interesting twist, Union minister and Republican Party of India (A) leader Ramdas Athavale has extended Adhir an invite to join the NDA.
“I request Adhir Ranjan ji that if he is being insulted in Congress, then he should leave Congress. I invite him to join NDA or my party RPI,” Athavale said. “It is because he (Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury) lost from West Bengal that he is being ignored and insulted. Due to this attitude of Congress, many people left the party and joined BJP,” the Union minister added.
Clearly, the road ahead for Adhir within the Congress appears to be bumpy. Assembly elections in West Bengal is due in 2026. If the Congress decides to join hands with Mamata, it may lose Adhir and also its alliance with the Left in the state. But that should not be a problem for the grand old party as already they are political rivals in Kerala despite being part of INDIA bloc at the national level.
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