Coinciding with the Congress-DMK patch-up in Tamil Nadu, the seat-sharing agreement between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress has been firmed up.
The TMC has forwarded a list of 58 constituencies that it is willing to spare.
The Congress leadership is largely in agreement with the proposal and the announcement in this regard is expected soon.
“We have forwarded the list of 58 seats to Pranab da (Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee),” Banerjee told reporters before leaving for Kolkata on Tuesday.
Led by the Bengal Congress unit chief Manas Bhuiyan, a state party delegation has been camping in New Delhi since Monday and has persisted with the demand for a share of 98 of the total of 294 assembly seats — roughly one-third of the assembly strength.
However, the Congress high command termed the demand “unrealistic”. The party will settle for around 60 seats, sources said.
The Congress, sources said, had put a claim over what they consider as their traditional strongholds in the North Bengal districts of Cooch Bihar, Malda and Murshidabad.
However, in recent times -as was demonstrated in the local elections in the state last year — the TMC has made serious inroads in the area.
{{/usCountry}}However, in recent times -as was demonstrated in the local elections in the state last year — the TMC has made serious inroads in the area.
{{/usCountry}}“We have offered seats across the state to the Congress and not in a particular region,” Banerjee said.