Mamata Banerjee declares TMC to go solo in Bengal election, INDIA bloc ally weighs in

Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut said Mamata should have a dialogue with the Congress as the Congress is a major part of the INDIA bloc.

Published on: Feb 11, 2025, 11:13:12 IST

By HT News Desk

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A day after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee ruled out Trinamool Congress alliance with the Congress for the 2026 assembly election, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut insisted that she should “continue to have dialogue” with the Congress.

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee blamed AAP-Congress rift for opposition's failure in the Delhi election. (Samir Jana/ Hindustan Times)

The Trinamool Congress chief on Monday blamed the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress for the failure of the Opposition in Delhi and Haryana assembly election, ruling out the possibility of having any alliance with the grand old party for the 2026 West Bengal election.

Mamata Banerjee also told her legislators and ministers that the TMC will win the 2026 poll on its own with a two-third majority in the 294-seat state assembly.

Sanjay Raut, a leader from Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, noted that Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has always contested Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections independently. However, he suggested that since the Congress is a huge part of the INDIA bloc, the TMC supremo “should always continue to have a dialogue with Congress”.

ALSO READ | Mamata blames Congress, AAP for BJP’s Delhi victory, rules out alliance for 2026

A minister from Banerjee's meeting said, "The chief minister said the AAP did not help the Congress in the Haryana poll and the Congress did not help the AAP in the Delhi poll. She said such things are unacceptable. She said the Congress doesn’t exist in Bengal."

She also warned the gathering that she won't tolerate any infighting or factionalism within the TMC rank and file.

Banerjee also asked her party leaders to beware as the Bharatiya Janata Party might try to include foreigners' names in the voter list to win the assembly polls.

In addition, Mamata Banerjee, known to have TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee as second-in-command, surprised her leaders by saying that she has no family.

ALSO READ | 'AAP-Congress fought to destroy each other': INDIA bloc ally Sena-UBT on Delhi debacle

“She said she has no family and the party and the people are her family,” a second MLA said.

The TMC chief reportedly informed at the meeting that she would reshuffle the party's units from state-level to the booth level, and various wings.

She asked the MLAs to suggest three names to senior leader Arup Biswas by February 25 for selecting new office-bearers.

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HT News Desk
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