The article in TMC mouthpiece said Mamata Banerjee is now the most popular opposition face. File
As Mamata Banerjee pushes hard to emerge as the face of the Opposition by edging out the Congress, the Trinamool Congress today launched a fresh attack on the grand old party.
An article in the party's mouthpiece Jago Bangla today stated that the Congress has gone into a "deep freezer" and Opposition parties are now looking up to the West Bengal Chief Minister to fill the vacuum.
The fresh swipe comes against the backdrop of the Trinamool inducting key leaders of the Congress across the country as it tries to expand its national footprint. The Mamata Banerjee-led party recently inducted 12 of the 17 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya, including former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma. The party also took onboard key Congress leaders such as former Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad and former Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro.
Trinamool's fresh attack also comes close on the heels of a tweet by poll strategist Prashant Kishor in which he took a veiled dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying the Congress's leadership is not the "divine right of an individual". Mr Kishor also called for the Opposition leadership to be "decided democratically".
Emphasising Mr Kishor's argument, the article in the Trinamool mouthpiece said it was not just the poll strategist but also Congress leaders who are criticising the party leadership.
Asserting that Trinamool was committed to fight the BJP, the article titled "Congress in deep freezer" said, "The TMC has been saying this for a long time that the Congress is a spent force. They don't have the zeal to fight the BJP. The party is so bogged down by infighting that it hardly has time or energy to build an opposition. The UPA does not exist."
The remark resonates with Ms Banerjee's recent statement following her meeting with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar: "What is UPA? There is no UPA".
"The country currently needs an alternative front and opposition parties have given that responsibility to Mamata Banerjee. They are looking up to her to fill the vacuum. She is presently the most popular opposition face in the country," the article said.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders have hit back at Ms Banerjee's recent remarks and also taken swipes at Mr Kishor.
Party spokespersons Pawan Khera and Supriya Shrinate have referred to Ms Banerjee's earlier stints as an ally of the BJP-led NDA and asserted that the people of the country can be sure that Rahul Gandhi will "never join the fascists".