Congress Leader Urges Mamata Banerjee to Rejoin Party, Offers Her State Leadership

In a striking political move, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday extended an invitation to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to rejoin the Congress, a party she left nearly three decades ago. The offer came with the Congress's willingness to accept her leadership in West Bengal.

Chowdhury, historically one of Banerjee's most vocal critics in Bengal, made the pitch less than 24 hours after Banerjee attended a Congress-led INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi. At that meeting, she was seen in warm exchanges with Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, signalling improved ties between the two opposition parties.