Senior Telangana Congress Leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy on Thursday said there will be no place for Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state.
In a statement, Reddy said, "Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is testing waters in the south and that they have approached some leaders in Telangana, besides Karnataka. TMC will definitely be a non-starter in this state. There will be no place for Mamata Banerjee's TMC in Telangana."
He said that TMC has set its eyes on expanding to other states, particularly by claiming to replace Congress to counter the BJP.
"Any attempt by her (Mamata Banerjee) to lay claim to the legacy of Gandhiji, Nehruvian Secularism and true Congress ideology will be totally untenable on several grounds. History will ultimately unfold and people will be reminded that after all she has been a part of the NDA in the past and Mamata Banerjee was a member of PM Vajpayee's cabinet," Reddy said.
The Congress leader said the former's role is "increasingly suspect" and he is being perceived by many as a mole of the ruling BJP government as their "Congress Mukta Bharat" call is being parroted by Prashant Kishor.
"Guided by him, if TMC thinks that it can emerge as an alternative to the Congress, it will be a futile exercise and they will never be able to replace it. Things in Telangana will not be any different. People will realise that Rahul Gandhi is the only leader who has been consistently taking on Prime Minister Modi and the BJP and it is the Congress alone that has a pan-India presence."
He said Congress just need to learn a few lessons from the past, re-assess its strengths andweaknesses and evolve strategies to cement its position as the true nucleus for the real anti-BJP forces in the country.
TMC has witnessed a steady stream of leaders joining its ranks after quitting from Congress in the last few months.
In September, former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro joined TMC after resigning from the primary membership of Congress. Following Faleiro's shift, nine other leaders from Congress also joined TMC, sources had informed.
Congress MP from Assam's Silchar and ex-president of All India Mahila Congress, Sushmita Dev had joined the TMC in August this year. She has been assigned to look after TMC's affairs in Tripura.
Moreover, Luizinho Faleiro and Sushmita Dev both were awarded Rajya Sabha seats after joining TMC.
Ahead of the 2022 Goa assembly polls, North Goa Congress Seva Dal Chief Ulhas Vaskar and Shiv Sena Block President (Ponda) Vinod Borkar joined the TMC on October 21.
Congress leader Kirti Azad and former Haryana Congress president Ashok Tanwar also recently joined TMC. Tanwar was once a close aide of Rahul Gandhi.
Two senior Congress leaders of Uttar Pradesh had joined TMC in October including Rajeshpati Tripathi and Lalitpati Tripathi.
Rajeshpati is an ex-MLC and Laliteshpati is former Uttar Pradesh Congress vice-president and an ex-MLA. Rajeshpati and Laliteshpati are the grandsons and great-grandson of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kamalapati Tripathi, respectively.
( With inputs from ANI )
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