Did Adhir 'Campaign For BJP'? After TMC Charge, Congress's 'Doctored Video' Comeback

A political row erupted in West Bengal on Wednesday after the ruling Trinamool Congress shared a video of senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury asking people to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during a Lok Sabha election rally in Berhampore. In the video, Chowdhury said, “Instead of voting for TMC, it is better to vote for BJP.”

Hitting back, Congress has released the video of Chowdhury’s whole speech and accused TMC of ‘doctoring’ the original clip.

“This time ‘400 paar’ won’t happen…100 seats have already slipped away from the hands of PM Modi…It is necessary to make Congress and CPI(M) win. If Congress and CPI(M) don’t win, secularism will be under threat. It is better to vote for BJP than to vote for TMC. So, vote for Congress, not for TMC or BJP,” the senior Congress leader can be heard saying in the one-minute-long clip.

Sharing the whole video, Congress said that a doctored video has surfaced on social media, “perhaps either by the TMC or BJP IT Cell ( both are same notorious in the way they perform), wherein it’s being shown as if the West Bengal Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is asking the voters in a public meeting, to vote for BJP instead and hence a wrong perception and misinformation is being spread amongst the voters and listeners.”

Condemning the “culture of spreading lies and misinformation”, Congress said it has “lodged an official complaint to ECI regarding this manufactured video and sought their intervention and asked them to take appropriate penal action.”

“We, also are seeking the help from the professionals to help us to find out the source (the IP address) so that we can lodge police complaint also, through our legal cell,” the party added.

In the run-up to Lok Sabha Election 2024, both the Congress and TMC have accused each other of being BJP’s B-Teams. The political slugfest between the opposition’s INDIA bloc partners intensified after TMC leader Sushmita Dev put out a nine-second clip of Chowdhury’s speech, sparking a controversy.

“Meet the @INCIndia star campaigner for BJP in Bengal. @adhirrcinc Leader of the House of Lok Sabha,” Dev wrote while sharing the video on X.

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee also accused Chowdhury of being an agent of the BJP and held him responsible for obstructing the formation of the opposition INDIA bloc in the state.

Banerjee, addressing a rally for party candidate Prasun Banerjee in Samsi, expressed disbelief that a Congressman would advocate for the saffron party, stating that Chowdhury’s actions were aiding the BJP’s cause.

“We all wanted the INDIA bloc to happen in Bengal. But Chowdhury prevented it to strengthen the hands of the BJP,” the TMC general secretary said.

The differences between TMC and Chowdhury are not new in Bengal. Though both parties are part of the INDIA bloc at the national level, TMC and Congress are contesting the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal separately.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party and Chowdhury have been at odds even before the start of seat-sharing talks between Congress and TMC for the Lok Sabha elections. As talks eventually failed, TMC placed the blame squarely on Chowdhury for the negotiations going sour.

Member of Parliament since 1999, Chowdhury is up against former Indian cricketer and Trinamool’s Yusuf Pathan and renowned surgeon Dr Nirmal Kumar Saha from the BJP.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.