TMC won't be able to win a single seat from Murshidabad: Adhir

Senior Congress leader and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Monday challenged the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) to win a single Lok Sabha seat from Murshidabad district and said the TMC and the BJP are two sides of a same coin.

The bordering district of Murshidabad, used to be a stronghold of the Congress, has three Lok Sabha seats out of which two are presently with the Congress and one with the CPI(M).

"I challenge the TMC to win at least one Lok Sabha seat in Murshidabad district. They can use all the force they have - be it the police or goons. But we will ensure that they are unable to win a single seat from the district," Chowdhury, a former Union minister, said.

The TMC did not allow people to cast their votes during the last panchayat polls, but they will not be able to employ the same tactics again, he claimed while addressing a rally at Baharampur in Murshidabad district.

The elections will he held under the central forces and the people would be able to cast their votes, the former state Congress president said.

"The TMC and the BJP are two sides of the same coin in the state. The TMC's claim that they are against the BJP is bogus," he said.

The Murshidabad district which has been a stronghold of Congress under the leadership of Adhir Chowdhury for two decades has been facing defections of elected MLAs and MPs to the TMC.

The TMC under the leadership of senior minister Suvendu Adhikari, who is the party's in charge of the district, has made steady inroads in the district with party winning the Zilla Parishad elections there.