Setback for Congress as 2 top UP leaders join TMC; Mamata vows to give 'real fight' to BJP

Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Lalitesh Pati Tripathi and Rajesh Pati Tripathi- two top leaders of Congress who recently quit party and joined TMC in presence of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday. Speaking to media in Siliguri, y vowed to continue struggle to oust BJP from power in UP as well as Centre under TMC supremo's leadership. On this occasion, Banerjee was quoted as saying by PTI, " faith of people in TMC is increasing.  joining of two leaders testifies that we are w an all-India party which can give real fight to BJP".

Elected to Legislative Council in path, Rajesh Pati Tripathi is grandson of late Congress veteran Kamalapati Tripathi who served as Chief Minister of UP from April 1971 to June 1973. His son Lalitesh Pati served as  Marihan MLA between 2012-2017 and was appointed as UP Congress vice president in 2019.  young leader has suffered a setback in recent years though with his failure to retain Marihan seat in 2017 Assembly election and his loss to Union Minister Anupriya Patel in 2019 General Election from Mirzapur.

TMC's growing pan-India footprint

After a hard-fought election campaign, TMC sprung a surprise by decisively winning 2021 West Bengal Assembly election by bagging 213 seats whereas BJP could win in only 77 constituencies. Buoyed by its third consecutive victory, TMC is mulling projecting Mamata Banerjee as Prime Ministerial candidate for 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Making her national ambitions clear, Banerjee propagated  West Bengal model of governance in her Martyrs' Day rally speech on July 21.

reafter, she visited Delhi and met various opposition leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi. In an attempt to expand its base across country, TMC has increased its political activities in Tripura and Goa aimed at emerging as an alternative to Congress. However,  party has riled Congress in process by inducting many of its leaders such as Sushmita Dev and Abhijit Mukherjee.

Incensed by growing political capital of Mamata Banerjee-led party, Congress recently accused TMC of indirectly helping BJP by dividing secular votes. Slamming AAP and TMC in a press briefing on October 3, AICC Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao said, "re are two forces working. One force is fascist force of BJP which wants to completely control this country, completely keep everything under its command. y are trying to create an authoritarian state using power of money. second thing that is happening in Goa, parties which are operating here to ensure that BJP wins".