Congress Fumes As Party`s Lone Bengal MLA Bayron Biswas Joins Ruling TMC

KOLKATA: The Congress party which ruled West Bengal for 20 years since independence, lost its lone MLA in the state assembly, Bayron Biswas, as he crossed over to the ruling TMC on Monday, joining the party in the presence of its general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. At the function to join the ruling party in Ghatal in Medinipur, Bayron claimed that the Congress to which he had owed allegiance for long, had played no role in his victory, which he said he 'won because of my goodwill.'

Bayron, a local 'bidi' magnate, had won the Sagardighi seat earlier this year in a by-election, worsting his TMC rival, much to the consternation of the ruling camp. "If the Congress' organisation was so strong in the Sagardighi assembly segment, the party would have won the seat in 2021 (state general elections). But that did not happen. I won the seat because of my goodwill," he said, adding for good measure that he felt the Congress in Bengal is "averse" to fight against the BJP and which is why he had preferred to join TMC.

Predictably Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Monday lashed out bitterly at Bayron Biswas for his desertion, stating, "If we had not been there with you (Bayron Biswas), you would not be what you are (an MLA) today". TMC's Banerjee claimed that with the joining of Biswas, the "rainbow alliance of the BJP and the Congress" to oppose the TMC has been defeated in the state.

"We all know about the unethical rainbow alliance that was forged through tacit understanding between the BJP and the Congress in Bengal. With the joining of Biswas, this rainbow alliance now stands defeated. The Congress has to decide whom they want to fight. "They can't claim that they are fighting against the BJP at the Centre by opposing the TMC in Bengal. This double standard has to stop," he said.

Abhishek, the nephew of Mamata Banerjee, also asserted that "Biswas joined the TMC as he felt that it is the only force which can fight against the BJP in Bengal". He, however, dismissed the allegation that the TMC is trying to finish off the Congress in the state.

Banerjee also reiterated an earlier claim that many senior Congress leaders and MPs are in touch with the TMC leadership, but the ruling party in Bengal, for the sake of opposition unity, has "kept its doors closed". Biswas's joining the TMC comes at a time when parties opposed to the BJP are trying to forge an opposition unity in the fight against the saffron camp in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The desertion of the MLA does not come under the purview of the anti-defection law as he is the lone representative of the Congress in the assembly and his joining TMC means a merger of the Congress Legislative party with the larger TMC legislative party. Biswas's former mentor Chowdhury said the TMC was petrified after losing Sagardighi by-polls and had used everything at its disposal to poach the Congress MLA.

He blamed the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and party MP Abhishek Banerjee for luring MLAs from other parties. "Sagardighi proved that Mamata Banerjee is not invincible. She and her party can be beaten. I will say that you will be the one to suffer the most from the game (of taking in deserters from other parties you started...But, Didi, do not forget, what goes around, comes around," he said.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said his party had long felt the Congress MLA may switch over to the TMC and urged voters 'not to waste their votes by voting for the Congress or CPI (M) candidates'.