Will reduce Trinamool into 1-MP party, thunders Deepa

, Jan 21: Union Minister Deepa Dasmunshi on Sunday strongly demanded that the

should go alone in

in the next Lok Sabha elections.

Deepa, wife of party leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi who has fallen seriously ill, said in the presence of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the party should try to strengthen the state unit instead of forging any alliance with the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Dasmunshi said the state Congress, if it gets permission from the high command, will not only prove its worth in the state but also reduce the TMC into a one-MP party. The TMC, which had a lone MP in Mamata Banerjee after the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, increased its strength to 19 after the 2009 polls.

The Union Minister, who was one of the few voices who spoke against forming alliances with regional parties amid a general understanding that the Congress should go for alliances, which is a complete reverse of the stand it had taken in Panchmari in 1998, slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the lack of women's safety in the state. Her speech was welcomed by party president Sonia Gandhi.

Deepa Dasmunshi, known to be a strong anti-Mamata voice in the party, has been against forming an alliance with the TMC. The central leaders did not back her demands so far. But on Sunday, four months after Banerjee pulled out of the UPA government, the central leadership of the Congress appreciated Dasmunshi's stand.

OneIndia News