 "Lok Sabha elections 2024: TMC to go solo in West Bengal; jolt to INDIA bloc")
Lok Sabha elections 2024: In a major jolt to the Opposition's INDIA alliance, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Wednesday, announced to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024 alone. This means that Mamata-led Trinamool Congress party (TMC) has refused the seat-sharing proposal with the Congress for the 42 constituencies in West Bengal.
"I had no discussions with the Congress party. I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I am not concerned about what will be done in the country but we are a secular party and in Bengal, we will alone defeat the BJP. I am a part of the INDIA alliance. Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Yatra is passing through our state but we have not been informed about it…," Banerjee said.
The Congress and the TMC are a part of the Opposition's INDIA or Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, a group of 28-non BJP parties, which aims to oust the Narendra Modi government in the general elections, likely scheduled for April-May.
Congress wants at least 10 seats in West Bengal
The development follows a day after the TMC supremo criticised the Congress for causing a delay in discussions for seat-sharing in the state. The Congress had expressed its wish to contest on at least 10 seats, while the TMC was willing to give only seats to Rahul Gandhi's party.
According to party sources, Banerjee, during an internal meeting in Birbhum on Tuesday, urged party leaders to gear up for the electoral battle.
"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," aTMC leader, who did not wish to be named, said.
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Won't beg for seats from TMC, says Adhir
Meanwhile, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a vocal critic of Banerjee’s TMC, has maintained that it wouldn't "beg" for seats from Bengal's ruling party.
The development is a setback to the INDIA bloc as the Opposition attempts to bridge its regional divide in a bid to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the polls.
Congress demanded 20 seats in UP
Last week, reports emerged that the Congress demanded 20 seats in Uttar Pradesh from the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party. Notably, in the 2019 elections, the party had won only one seat in the state, secured by Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli.
The Congress, citing its pan-India presence in the alliance, has been attempting to leverage its position in the decision making process in the alliance. However, its recent defeat in the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh against the BJP has put the party on a back foot during the seat-sharing discussions.
All INDIA bloc parties have maintained that seat-sharing proposals will be based on "merit".
In the 2019 elections, the TMC bagged 22 seats, Congress won two, and the BJP secured 18 in West Bengal.
(With agency inputs)