Lok Sabha polls: Congress offers Trinamool a new seat-sharing deal

To revive its seat-sharing negotiations with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, the Congress has offered that the two parties work out a formula to contest the Lok Sabha seats in Meghalaya and Assam.

The Congress has conveyed to the Trinamool that the Mamata Banerjee-led party could contest, as part of their alliance, one of the two of Meghalaya’s Lok Sabha seats, and a couple of seats of Assam’s 14. The Congress is hopeful that the Trinamool will return the favour in Bengal.

The Congress overture to the Trinamool has come amid the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) escalating its onslaught against the regional party in Bengal. Several women in North 24 Parganas’ Sandeshkhali have accused Trinamool leader Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of “land-grab and sexual assault”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to be in Bengal on March 1 and 2. He will also visit the state on March 6 to address a women’s rally in North 24 Parganas. BJP sources said Modi could meet women from Sandeshkhali during his visit to the district.

In Bengal, the Congress is keen to contest four or five of the state’s 42 seats in alliance with the ruling Trinamool. Until now, the Trinamool has insisted that it would not offer more than two seats to the Congress. The Congress won Baharampur, represented by its Lok Sabha leader Adhir Chowdhury and Malda South seats in 2019. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the Congress, in alliance with the Left parties, couldn’t win a single seat.

“Even with binoculars, we are unable to find a third seat for the Congress,” a Trinamool spokesperson said. Congress General Secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh suggested that little credence should be given to statements made during negotiations. “The Trinamool Congress has said many things. It has also said it is committed to the INDIA alliance, and its supreme leader has said she is committed to defeating the BJP. In politics, people say many things depending on the circumstances. These are reactions to certain situations,” Ramesh said.

As for Meghalaya, Congress candidate Vincent Pala won the Shillong seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In Tura, Congress candidate Mukul Sangma was the runner-up, losing to the National People’s Party’s Agatha Sangma. Mukul Sangma joined the Trinamool in 2021 and was the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the 2023 Meghalaya Assembly polls.

In the 2023 Assembly polls, the Trinamool matched the performance of the Congress. The Trinamool won five seats and secured 13.55 per cent vote share compared to the Congress’ five seats and 13.01 per cent vote share. The Trinamool fared better than the Congress in the assembly constituencies that are part of the Tura Lok Sabha seat. The Congress did well in the assembly constituencies of the Shillong Lok Sabha seat.

Congress sources said the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) allies in Maharashtra had finalised their seat-sharing formula for 29 of the state’s 48 seats. The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will announce seat-sharing agreements for Gujarat, Chandigarh, Haryana, and Delhi in a day or two.