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Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 18, 2004

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Congress asks Trinamool leaders to return

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA, MAY 17. The Congress leadership in West Bengal has appealed to the leaders of the Trinamool Congress, which was virtually decimated in the recent Lok Sabha polls, to "bury past differences and join the Congress."

The Congress doubled its tally to six Lok Sabha seats while the Trinamool managed to retain only one — that of its leader, Mamata Banerjee. The Congress had also bagged more seats than the Trinamool in zilla parishads and panchayat samitis.

The general secretary of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, Manash Bhuniya, said today that the appeal to rejoin the Congress was being made to Ms. Banerjee and all other Trinamool leaders. "They had broken away from the Congress seven years ago with the hope of surviving as a separate entity and were now being asked to return to the Congress fold for their own political survival. Senior party leaders, including Pranab Mukherjee, have been repeatedly appealing to the Trinamool Congress leadership to join the Congress because it has been proved that the Trinamool's seven years of existence has been futile and had only benefited the CPI(M)."

The former president of the State Congress unit, Somen Mitra, had appealed to Sudip Bandhopadhyay, who was denied the Trinamool ticket in the recent polls, to "join the Congress." Mr. Bandhopadhyay contested the Kolkata North West constituency against the Trinamool nominee, Subrata Mukherjee, but the seat was won by the CPI(M) candidate, Sudhanshu Sil.

Mr. Bhuniya criticised the remarks of the BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj, and former BJP ideologue, K.N. Govindacharya, on Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, saying they "were an insult to the national sentiment, and derogatory and defamatory."

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