Cong alliance worry

Calcutta, Oct. 18: Shakeel Ahmed, the Congress’s minder for Bengal, will visit the city on Friday following reports that the party’s activists are planning to defect to Trinamul in droves.

“We are really worried about reports that many party workers in rural Bengal are planning to defect to Trinamul. Our priority is to keep the flock together,” the AICC general secretary told The Telegraph during a phone conversation.

State Congress leaders allege that the party supporters are planning defection because they are unable to bear harassment by Trinamul activists.

Ahmed said that it was regrettable that the chief minister did not get back to the Bengal Congress chief, Pradip Bhattacharya, despite his attempts to draw her attention to incidents of attack on Congress activists and offices.

“Pradipji wrote to the chief minister to keep her posted about the attacks. But neither Mamataji nor the administration has taken any steps so far. We consider this a major irritant in our relations,” he added.

Bhattacharya said he had written to Mamata twice, listing over 60 incidents when either Congress supporters were attacked or offices damaged allegedly by Trinamul activists.

Congress leaders today said they were faced with questions from party workers on why they were being attacked by Trinamul activists with whom they “are sharing power in the government”.

“At almost every meeting, Congress workers complain that they are left with no option but to defect to Trinamul to escape harassment by its activists,” state Congress vice-president Debabrata Basu said.

He said a party block president in Purulia had alleged last week that Trinamul activists had framed false cases against Congress activists.

“We were left red-faced with his justification for defecting to Trinamul,” Basu said.

State Congress general secretary Krishna Debnath said a section of party leaders, tired of the violence unleashed by Trinamul activists, had demanded that they go it alone in the 2013 panchayat polls.

A Trinamul general secretary, however, dismissed the allegations of harassment. “In fact, Congress supporters, fed up with the leadership, are sending feelers to us for switching over to our party,” he said.