Meets Sonia Gandhi, who assures her the two parties remain friends at national level

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee flagged Congress Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s protests in the State against Trinamool Congress on the alleged chit fund scam.

According to sources, Mr. Chowdhury has taken a diametrically opposite position to the Congress headquarters.

Ms. Banerjee, who was in New Delhi to attend an Opposition rally at Jantar Mantar, met Sonia Gandhi in Parliament .

According to sources, Ms. Gandhi told her that the Congress and the TMC would continue to remain friends, irrespective of the politics in the State.

And Ms. Banerjee said that she will remember her words. “The two spoke for a short while. But rest assured the meeting ended on a polite note and the friction at the State level will not impact a national-level alliance,” an Opposition MP who was present at the spot said.

Ms. Banerjee and Ms. Gandhi share a very amicable relation and Ms. Banerjee always makes it a point to meet her whenever she is in the capital. But her relation with Congress president Rahul Gandhi at best is frosty. Her party has claimed on many occasions that Ms. Banerjee is better placed, with her political and administrative experience, to lead an Opposition alliance if it is in position to form the government.

The West Bengal Chief Minister also met RJD leader Misa Bharti, BSP leader Satish Chandra Misra and Samajwadi Party leaders Dimple Yadav and Jaya Bachchan.

Later, speaking at the Opposition rally, Ms. Banerjee obliquely responded to Ms. Gandhi’s afternoon comments. “Any fight with the Congress will remain in the State. At the national level we will fight together, this I am saying from the heart. For the greater interest of the country I am ready to sacrifice my life, my party. I am ready to sacrifice everything,” she said.

She also had a word of advice for the Congress: “We tell the Congress that if you are strong in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan you should fight there. But where we are strong don't let the BJP win.” She said an understanding with any party does not help the TMC in the State because the votes do not transfer. “How much ever they [BJP] fight I will get 42 out of 42,” she asserted.