Kolkata:

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi of Congress in an internal meeting of the party.

Sources have told NDTV that Mamata Banerjee said that if Rahul Gandhi becomes the face of the opposition, no one will be able to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to sources, CM Mamta said that Rahul Gandhi is the biggest source of TRP for PM Modi.

The TMC leader has alleged that the BJP is not allowing Parliament to function because they want Rahul Gandhi to "become a leader... BJP is keen to make Rahul Gandhi a hero." 

In a virtual address from Kolkata on Saturday in Murshidabad, he told party workers, "It is the Congress which bows before the BJP. The Congress, the CPM and the BJP are instigating the minorities against the Trinamool."

Significantly, in the recently concluded by-elections, TMC had to face defeat on the minority-dominated seat at the hands of the Congress.

Earlier, Trinamool MP and leader of the party in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay had said that the BJP benefits from Rahul Gandhi being the face of the opposition.

Significantly, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party had said on Friday that both the parties would keep distance from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

At the same time, he indicated to hold talks with regional parties for the Lok Sabha elections to be held next year. 

Sudip Bandopadhyay said that the Trinamool Congress will discuss with "powerful regional parties" the strategy to counter the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

He said that the party would keep distance from the Congress, but also said that "at this time the party is not talking about a third front".

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