The Congress leadership on Thursday dismissed reports of a merger with Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, calling them "completely wrong" and baseless rumours.
“This is a total rumour. We have made it clear. The news of a merger is completely wrong and baseless," Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal said after a meeting with general secretaries, in-charges and state unit chiefs.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Bhupesh Baghel, in-charges, PCC chiefs, among others, participated.
His remarks came amid speculation following meetings between Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
Venugopal said the interactions were part of discussions within the INDIA bloc and should not be interpreted as talks related to any merger between the two parties.
“Abhishek and Mamata ji met Sonia ji and Rahul Gandhi. That is part of the INDIA bloc meeting," Venugopal said.
The Congress is the only party which is not breaking down ideologically and therefore it is best suited to take on the RSS-BJP, Rahul Gandhi said at the party meeting on Thursday amid the TMC political crisis.
"If one party is not breaking down ideologically, it is the Congress. If there is one party that can fight the RSS-BJP, it is the Congress," Gandhi was quoted as saying by the sources.
Rahul asserted that the party will strengthen further in the next couple of years due to its ideological steadfastness, sources said.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee held a meeting in New Delhi on 10 June, amid efforts by the opposition INDIA bloc to strengthen coordination and maintain unity.
The meeting at 10 Janpath took place a day after Mamata Banerjee met former Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence and discussed ways to further consolidate the opposition alliance.
Some reports on Wednesday said that Sonia Gandhi had offered Mamata the position of national vice-president of the Congress.
The meeting came at a time when the Trinamool is in disarray with 60 of its 80 MLAs claiming they represented the party and claiming the Opposition role in the Bengal Assembly.
Three of its 13 Rajya Sabha MPs have also resigned and 20 out of its 28 Lok Sabha MPs have joined the NDA, casting doubts over the political future of Mamata and Abhishek.
Venugopal also criticised the double standards in the election process after the nomination of Congress Rajya Sabha candidate in Madhya Pradesh, Meenakshi Natarajan, was rejected by the Election Commission, while NDA-backed Independent Rajya Sabha candidate Parimal Nathwani’s papers were accepted despite errors.
“We will fight this politically and legally,” said Venugopal.
Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in charge of communication, said that the BJP’s dream to get a two-thirds majority in this Lok Sabha will not be fulfilled.
“Their ego was hurt after the Bill on Delimitation was defeated in the House. That is why they are doing all this – getting MPs from other parties. Whatever the Home Minister may do, the BJP will not get a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha for getting the Delimitation Bill passed,” Ramesh said.
In a post on X, Kharge said the country was facing serious challenges such as inflation, unemployment, exam scandals, and social inequality.
"Paper leaks in NEET and various recruitment exams, along with controversies related to the education system, have shaken the trust of millions of youth and their families. Shri Rahul Gandhi has personally met with affected students and youth and has firmly presented their voice before the nation," Kharge, who presided over the meeting, said.
"..we see that those institutions and systems which took decades to build are being deliberately weakened. Therefore, our responsibility is not only toward political struggle, but also toward safeguarding India's Constitution, democracy, and social justice," he asserted.
Earlier this week, INDIA bloc members met in New Delhi and unanimously decided to demand Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's immediate resignation over the NEET-CBSE row. They also decided to write to the chief justice of India on the SIR exercise and "vote loot".
Venugopal also said that the BJP government has moved from “vote chori” (vote theft) to “seat chori” (seat theft), and announced a nationwide agitation against issues such as price rise, unemployment, paper leaks, and issues related to farmers.
The meeting came a day after the BJP celebrated PM Modi’s achievement as the country’s longest continuously-serving elected Prime Minister.
“Congress campaign against Modi govt to start by June end and to continue countrywide for two to three months. We will have national agitation at all levels — state, national, and district,” Venugopal said.