Cong-Trinamool reach seat-sharing accord

Congress and Trinamool Congress today reached a seat-sharing agreement to take on West Bengal’s ruling Left Front in Lok Sabha polls with Sonia Gandhi-led party playing the role of junior partner.

Congress and Trinamool Congress on Thursday reached a seat-sharing agreement to take on West Bengal’s ruling Left Front in Lok Sabha polls with Sonia Gandhi-led party playing the role of junior partner.

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Under the pact, formally announced by AICC in-charge of the state K Keshav Rao, Congress will be contesting only 14 of the 42 seats, leaving the rest to TC.

Congress has six sitting MPs from the state while TC’s lone Lok Sabha member in the outgoing House is party supremo Mamata Banerjee herself.

“We have entered into a seat-sharing pact with TC with the objective of ending the over thirty years of misrule of CPI-M, which has shattered the economy of West Bengal. We will contest 14 seats in the state,” Rao said while making the announcement.

Congress would contest Darjeeling, Raiganj, Malda, North Malda, Jangipur, Bahrampur, Murshidabad, Jalpaiguri, Burdwan-Durgapur, Bolepur, Purulia, Arambagh, Jhargram and Bankura seats.

Mamata left Congress 12 years back over differences on the aproach to fight the Left which has been entrenched in the state for over three decades. She was part of NDA till recently.