Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, accusing it of being hand-in-glove with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Addressing a joint Left-Congress rally in the Sujapur town in Malda district, Gandhi accused both the West Bengal government and the Narendra Modi-led Centre of being dictatorships.

Hinting that the Trinamool Congress and the BJP had a tacit alliance in West Bengal, Gandhi said, "Why didn't Modi act against Mamata, who looted lakhs of people in the Saradha chit fund scam? Why not? Because BJP and TMC are together." The Congress president also criticised the Banerjee government's performance in the last five years, alleging that "atrocities against women are highest" in West Bengal.

The Trinamool Congress later said that Gandhi's allegations of a TMC-BJP alliance are "devious and ridiculous". TMC spokesperson Derek O'Brien said that "Sonia and Modi are on the same side, and Mamata Banerjee is on the other side".