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‘Not local level elections’: Cong's reply to INDIA ally Mamata's ‘40 seats’ barb
Mamata Banerjee has already declared her party TMC will contest all 42 seats in the Lok Sabha elections alone.
The Congress on Saturday responded to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's jibe saying she doubted if the grand old party would win even 40 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
“We are assuming she (West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee) is still a part of the INDIA group, a group of 27 parties which have formed the alliance. Her priority, she claims, is to fight the BJP. Our priority is also to fight the BJP," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh told PTI.
"I think it’s better if we all come together. I think we should realise that this is not local level elections,” Ramesh added.
While addressing a public meeting in West Bengal's Murshidabad, Banerjee had lashed out at the Congress. “I doubt if you (Congress) will win 40. I was offering two seats and would have let them win. But they wanted more. I said okay, contest on all 42 then. Rejected! There has been no conversation with them since," she said. Murshidabad.
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Banerjee even dared the Congress to defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, including in Varanasi, which is represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha.
In the 2014 and 2019 general elections, PM Modi had defeated his Congress rival Ajay Rai by more than five lakh votes.
“If you have the courage, defeat the BJP in UP, Banaras, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh,” the Trinamool Congress chief had said.
TMC and Congress, both members of the opposition INDIA bloc, have been locking horns over seat sharing in West Bengal for the Lok Sabha elections, whose dates are yet to be announced. Mamata Banerjee has already announced her decision to contest the elections alone, even declaring she will not share a single seat with INDIA allies Congress as well as Communist Party of India (Marxist).
(With PTI inputs)
