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In setback for INDIA bloc, Mamata Banerjee vows to ‘fight alone’ in Lok Sabha polls
She said proposals by her party on seat sharing in the state in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections were “dismissed".
West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced her party will contest the Lok Sabha elections in all constituencies in the state, citing a major setback in the seat-sharing talks with the INDIA bloc ally Congress. She said her party's seat-sharing proposals were “dismissed” by Congress immediately.
“We have not talked to anyone about it (seat sharing). However, my party had sent a proposal to them (Congress), which was dismissed right away. Therefore, we decided to go alone in Bengal (for the polls). No talks on the matter have been done so far,” the chief minister said before leaving for Purba Bardhaman, where she is scheduled to chair an administrative review meeting.
“Let the Congress fight 300 seats on its own. The regional parties are together and can contest the rest. However, we will not tolerate any interference by them (Congress),” she added.
CM Banerjee also expressed her disappointment for “not informing” her about the Congress-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, scheduled to enter the state on Thursday.
“They (Congress) are doing a rally (in Bengal), but they did not inform me. I am a part of the INDIA alliance; as a courtesy, they should have informed me that ‘Didi, I am coming to your state’,” she said.
The TMC supremo's remarks came a day after a closed-door meeting between the West Bengal CM and party leaders in the TMC stronghold Birbhum district, in which Banerjee reportedly asked all leaders to prepare for contesting the polls alone and not to think about seat-sharing talks.
Also read: Adhir Chowdhury calls Mamata Banerjee ‘opportunist’ moments after Rahul Gandhi says ‘we’re close'
A rift embroiled between Congress and TMC over seat sharing in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. TMC's vocal critic and state Congress chief, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has been launching attacks on CM Banerjee. On Tuesday, the Congress MP called The Bengal CM an“opportunist” and said the elections would not be fought at her mercy.
"This time, the elections will not be fought at the mercy of Mamata Banerjee. The Congress defeated the BJP and TMC in the two seats that Mamata Banerjee is leaving. The Congress party knows how to contest the elections. Mamta Banerjee is an opportunist; she came to power in 2011, with the mercy of Congress," Chowdhury said, moments after party leader Rahul Gandhi snubbed his criticism against Mamata Banerjee by saying those remarks “won't matter”.
"The negotiations on seat-sharing are underway; I don't want to comment here. But Mamata Banerjee is very close to me and our party. Sometimes our leaders say something, their leaders say something, and it goes on. It's a natural thing. Such comments won't matter and these are not things that are going to disrupt things," Gandhi said on the sidelines of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
The state Congress expressed disappointment over TMC's proposal to share only two of the total 42 constituencies in the state for contesting the national elections.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee has proposed a performance-based quantifier to decide seat-sharing among INDIA bloc allies.
"Our party supremo clearly said that we don't need to think about seat-sharing talks with the Congress. She said that the party had offered two seats to them. But the Congress at times is demanding 10-12 seats," a senior TMC leader told PTI.
