A furious Mamata Banerjee declared on Wednesday that the Trinamool Congress will run independently for the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal and will only think about forming a pan-Indian alliance with the Congress after the results are announced. With her remarks, Ms. Banerjee seems to have dealt a fatal blow to any hopes that the two parties, which are regarded as significant players in the opposition in India, will be able to come to a compromise.
I didn’t speak with the Congress. We will fight alone in Bengal, as I have always said.
She also attacked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and his “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra,” which is anticipated to arrive in Bengal on Thursday but may not stop in Kolkata, in more indications of her eroding patience.
Despite the fact that I am a member of the India bloc, they did not have the decency to notify me that they were coming to my state. Bengali, for that matter, has no relations with me, she informed reporters.
Although Ms. Banerjee gets along well with Sonia Gandhi, the matriarch of the Congress, her relationship with Mr. Gandhi is perceived as tense. She’s stated before that she opposes her ‘ally’ running for office in Bengal.
India will be there, but the Tamil Congress will fight in Bengal. Only Trinamool in Bengal can make the BJP learn a lesson. She has stated that it can demonstrate to the nation how to win.
A few minutes later, Jairam Ramesh, the Congress’s chief of communications, responded.
Alongside Rahul Gandhi on the yatra in Assam, Mr. Ramesh stated that his party is unable to envision the INDIA bloc without Mamataji. Mr. Ramesh emphasizes that all of INDIA’s allies will fight the Bengal Lok Sabha elections together.
Amit Malviya of the BJP took a sharp jab at Ms. Banerjee’s announcement, calling it a sign of desperation. The head of the BJP’s IT Cell wrote on X that Mamata Banrjee, unable to maintain her political ground, wants to fight for every seat in the hopes of remaining relevant after the election.
The dispute between the Congress and Trinamool parties regarding seat-sharing and the possibility of India overtaking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP has been raging for weeks without any sign of an agreement, and neither party is prepared to give an inch. As of yet, the Congress has disregarded the deadline to reach an agreement.
Ms. Banerjee offered two Lok Sabha seats on Tuesday, criticizing the Congress’ unreasonable demand for 10-12 seats in her state, citing its dismal track record. It secured two seats in 2019 compared to four in 2014. Speaking to news agency under anonymity, a senior Trinmool leader said that Ms. Bamerjee was told , “Don’t consider seat-sharing with Congress.” She claimed that although she had offered two seats, they had demanded ten or twelve.
