Congress’s failure to reach out, Rahul’s comment irked Mamata Banerjee
A Congress leader involved in negotiations with allies said the party leadership might reach out to TMC leader Mamata Banerjee
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement on Wednesday that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will contest all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal on its own her state came after she waited for over a month to hear from the Congress over her December 19 offer of two seats.

A top TMC leader close to Banerjee said the comments of Rahul Gandhi, who is due to lead the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra into Bengal, on Tuesday that the negotiations on seat-sharing were underway even as there have been no talks irked Banerjee. “She felt humiliated,” the leader said, requesting anonymity.
Gandhi said Banerjee was very close to him and the Congress. “Sometimes our leaders say something, their leaders say something, and it goes on. It is a natural thing,” he said in Assam.
A Congress leader involved in negotiations with allies said the party leadership might reach out to Banerjee. “But there is also resentment against Trinamool in the party [Congress state] unit.”
A West Bengal Congress leader said the state unit expressed its reservation to the leadership about allying with the TMC for the national poll citing the police cases, atrocities, and poaching. But the leadership was clear about a pact with TMC for the sake of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh offered an olive branch minutes after Banerjee’s statement, saying they cannot imagine INDIA without TMC.
A third Congress leader pointed out the TMC is the largest ally of the Congress in the INDIA bloc. It would send a wrong political message ahead of the national polls bloc if TMC walks out, the leader added. “If Trinamool quits the alliance, it might have a far-reaching consequence. Our ability to ally will be severely dented. We will come under tremendous pressure from other allies and our seat negotiations will be affected.”
TMC offered Malda Dakshin and Baharampur seats to the Congress. Congress won the two seats in 2019.
A second TMC leader said the Congress was told it could get an extra seat if Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge or his predecessor Sonia Gandhi spoke to Banerjee. Trinamool also wants a seat each in Meghalaya and Assam.
Another TMC leader said the Congress should acknowledge its weakness in Bengal. “In 39 of the 42 seats, the Congress got less than 4% votes. It won two seats and in another seat, it got less than 10% votes in 2019.”
The TMC won 22 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal in 2019 while the BJP bagged 18. West Bengal sends the third highest (42 out of 543) lawmakers to the Lok Sabha.
