Cong in 'deep freezer', oppn forces want Mamata Banerjee to lead: TMC mouthpiece

Kolkata, Dec 3: Continuing its attack on the Congress, the TMC camp on Friday fired a fresh salvo at the grand old party claiming it is in the "deep freezer" which has forced the opposition to find a leader in West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to fill the vacuum.

The TMC in its mouthpiece 'Jago Bangla' claimed that it is taking on the BJP under Mamata Banerjee's leadership. It noted that not just poll strategist Prashant Kishor, but the leaders in the Congress themselves are criticising their leadership.

"The TMC has been saying this for a long time that the Congress is a spent force. They don't have the zeal to fight the BJP. The party is so bogged down by infighting that it hardly has time or energy to build an opposition. The UPA does not exist," the story with the headline 'Congress in deep freezer' said.

"The country currently needs an alternative front and opposition parties have given that responsibility to Mamata Banerjee. They are looking up to her to fill the vacuum. She is presently the most popular opposition face in the country," it added.

Prashant Kishor on Twitter said that Congress' leadership is not the "divine right" of an individual, especially when the party has "lost more than 90% elections in last 10 years". Thus taking a potshot at senior leader Rahul Gandhi.

Banerjee, during her recent visit to Mumbai, had said that "UPA doesn't exist". The ruling camp of West Bengal, which is trying to expand its footprint nationally, has been up in arms against the grand old party over its alleged failure to counter the BJP.

The Bengal-based party is expanding its footprints nationally and in the process, it has inducted disgruntled leaders from other parties and mainly from Congress. In a massive jolt to the grand old party in Meghalaya, 12 of its 17 MLAs, led by former chief minister Mukul Sangma, joined the TMC last week.

The TMC forayed into Tripura's political arena in a big way and engaged in a bitter battle with the BJP during the municipal elections.

It is now prepping up to contest the assembly elections in Goa in a bid to project Banerjee firmly as the face of the opposition.

Congress and TMC's relationship have strained ever since Banerjee started projecting herself as a national leader and TMC started poaching the Congress' leaders. A few days ago, her 'where is UPA' comment met with sharp reaction from Congress.