INDIA bloc's PM to be decided after 2024 LS elections: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the INDIA bloc’s prime ministerial candidate would be decided after the Lok Sabha elections, and asserted that the 2024 battle “was not a done deal”.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief also demanded that the Election Commission have “100 per cent VVPATs”, that is to put in place voter verifiable paper audit trail with all electronic voting machines.

On the INDIA bloc “wasting” the last few months by not meeting or concluding seat-sharing talks, Banerjee said: “It is better late than never”. A fortnight would be enough to agree on all pending issues, she said. “We will fight (the BJP) for every inch.”

She said the alliance would soon conclude its seat-sharing and formulate a common agenda for the Lok Sabha polls. “The BJP is not strong, we are weak. We need to work together to get stronger,” Banerjee said to a question on the BJP’s rising influence, especially in the Hindi belt. To a question that the Congress should have treated its allies better, she said: “I don’t have any comments to make on that. What’s past is past.”

The Bengal CM said she didn’t discriminate between the Hindi belt and other regions. “The poor are hungry and angry,” Banerjee said, and that while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) might have “Modi and media”, the Opposition had the support of the people. On questions about Adani Group projects in Bengal, Banerjee said she didn’t wish to mention any individual industrialists.

The TMC is the second biggest party in the alliance in terms of current Lok Sabha seats. Banerjee will attend the fourth meeting of the top leaders of the 26-party Indian National Inclusive Developmental Alliance (INDIA) in the national capital on Tuesday. She is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, where she said she would flag the issue of the Centre not releasing funds to Bengal.

In Bengal, Banerjee indicated that her party could part with two of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats for the Congress, a potential ally, but it was up to the Congress whether it wished to have an alliance with the Left parties. She said she would attend the joint rallies of the alliance across the country. To a question that the Opposition alliance should project one leader as its face, Banerjee said H D Deve Gowda, I K Gujral, Manmohan Singh, and even Atal Bihari Vajpayee were decided as the prime minister after elections.

She indicated that Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati was under pressure to not join the INDIA bloc, criticised “saffronisation”, and reiterated her misgivings with the goods and services tax. She said her party supported GST since Amit Mitra (former Bengal finance minister) backed it, but the tax regime has hurt the interests of the states. She said all parties were under pressure because of the central probe agencies, but will fight it out.

Banerjee rejected speculation that there was a “group” of regional leaders within the INDIA bloc. She said she had “no comments” to make on the demands for a nationwide caste census and asked the Centre to pay more attention to the developments in the Northeastern states in the context of national security.

On the suspension of opposition MPs in Parliament, Banerjee said: “Even with such a majority, they’re scared... The voice of people has been choked. They can suspend the whole House. They have no moral ground to run the House... It is a mockery of democracy.”

She said her party’s Lok Sabha MP, Mahua Moitra, whom the House expelled, had her support. She said the parliamentary party of the Trinamool would decide on her Krishnanagar seat.