The West Bengal hurdle proved to be costly for the INDIA bloc as Trinamool Congress on Sunday announced 42 names for the Lok Sabha election without leaving any room for the Congress after days of uncertainty over whether there will be any opposition alliance in West Bengal or not. The Congress reacted to the names and said it always maintained that it wanted to have a respectable seat-sharing agreement with the TMC in West Bengal. "The Indian National Congress has always maintained that such an agreement has to be finalised through negotiations and not by unilateral announcements. The Indian National Congress has always wanted the INDIA group to fight the BJP together," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
Full list of Trinamool's 42 candidates for 2024 Lok Sabha election
The Congress has finalised seat-sharing deals with the Samajwadi Party, with Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, with DMK and is also close to clinching the deal with the National Conference in J&K and the MVA in Maharashtra.
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{{/usCountry}}"As far as we are concerned, we want to strengthen the INDIA bloc in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee ji repeatedly said she is with the alliance and she wants to defeat the BJP in West Bengal. But now they have announced all the names. I don't know what pressure they had. Let's see what happens," Jairam Ramesh said.
Is TMC part of the INDIA bloc? Mamata Banerjee says....
The 42 names were announced in the party's rally at Brigade on Sunday where Mamata Banerjee addressed the crowd for around 15 minutes. In her speech, she said the Trinamool will contest all 42 seats in West Bengal against the BJP, Left and the Congress. "We will contest one seat in Uttar Pradesh in a tie-up with Samajwadi Party. I had a word with Akhilesh (Yadav). We are an opposition party in Meghalaya. We will contest there, and in Assam as well," Mamata said explaining how Trinamool has worked around the alliance without compromising any seat in West Bengal.
What went wrong between Congress and Trinamool in West Bengal?
In January, Mamata Banerjee announced that her party would go solo in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The Congress Mamata Banerjee was a key figure in the INDIA bloc and avenues to fight together in the election will be explored.
Congress was seeking 8 to 10 seats in West Bengal while Mamata's party did not agree to go beyond 2-3.
What added to this disagreement was Adhir Chowdhury's comment on Mamata Banerjee and Banerjee's claim that she was not invited to Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra when the yatra was in West Bengal.