Rahul Gandhi sends Mamata Banerjee best wishes ahead of rally

NEW DELHI: After downgrading the Congress presence at Mamata Banerjee’s opposition rally in Kolkata on Saturday, party president Rahul Gandhi sent her a bestwishes message.

The decision of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to skip the Kolkata event comes in the wake of the West Bengal Congress opposing an alliance with Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. AICC general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge will represent the Congress at the rally.

Banerjee’s decision not to attend the recent swearing-in ceremonies of three Congress chief ministers in the heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – and instead deputing party MP Dinesh Trivedi – came in handy for the Congress at this stage.