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‘Have good relation with Mamata Ji’: Rahul Gandhi after TMC chief’s INDIA remark
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said critical remarks from either side will not affect seat sharing talks for the coming Lok Sabha polls
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that he and his party share “a very good relationship” with Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, adding that critical remarks from either side will not affect seat sharing talks for the coming Lok Sabha polls.
Rahul Gandhi made the comments in Assam during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, less than 24 hours after Banerjee alleged at a rally in Kolkata that although she proposed to let Congress contest 300 of 543 Lok Sabha seats and leave the rest for regional parties, her advice was ignored at the INDIA group’s meetings.
“Our negotiations over seats are on. The conclusion will be evident. I don’t want to comment on that here. I have a very good personal relationship with Mamata Ji and so does our party,” Rahul Gandhi, who is scheduled to lead the Yatra through Bengal, said at a press conference.
On Monday, Banerjee targeted the CPI(M) from her interfaith rally in Kolkata but did not name the Congress.
“It was I who coined the name INDIA. But I am sorry to say that whenever I attend the meetings, CPI(M) controls them. This is extremely sad. I feel insulted. I fought them (Left) for 34 years when they were in power in Bengal. I will not follow their advice,” she said.
TMC leaders have alleged several times in recent weeks that Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury continues to target the chief minister although she said at an INDIA group meet on December 19 that she will not field candidates from Berhampore and Malda South seats that the Congress controls.
Chowdhury, who has been winning from Berhampore since 1999, has said alongside CPI(M) leaders that the INDIA model will not work in Bengal because they are opposed to both the TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Without naming Chowdhury on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi said: “Sometimes people from our side say something and sometimes they say something. These are natural things. These are not going to disrupt anything.”
Reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s comments, Bengal Congress spokesperson Soumya Aich said: “Our central leaders are carrying on the talks but in Bengal, we have to fight the TMC every day.”
TMC Rajya Sabha member Santanu Sen welcomed Rahul Gandhi’s gesture but reiterated that Chowdhury is opposed to the alliance.
“He targets Mamata Banerjee every day in public and makes insulting remarks. Rahul Gandhi should restrain Chowdhury if the Congress is serious about the alliance,” said Sen.
Of the 42 seats in Bengal, the BJP set a record in 2019 by winning 18. The saffron camp has now set its eyes on 35 seats.
Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “This is not the first time the TMC and the Congress have talked about an alliance against the BJP. It failed in 2019. The people of this nation have already decided the fate of the 2024 polls. Narendra Modi will return as the Prime Minister for the third time.”
