‘As far as possible’, this was the caveat added in the opposition’s I.N.D.I. Alliance back in September 2023 resolution to fight the upcoming general elections slated for May 2024. However, it seems even before the elections, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc parties are not interested in supporting each other ‘as far as possible’ but rather only tolerating each other since they cannot take on Narendra Modi and BJP individually in the elections.
Seat sharing has emerged as a major dispute among the I.N.D.I. Alliance parties as was seen in the Madhya Pradesh elections when the Samajwadi Party openly slammed Congress for not giving enough seats to the party with SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav calling Congress a “Chalu” party and wishing for its defeat. Now, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary has launched a fresh attack on Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying that she is “busy serving” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chowdhury on Thursday (4th January), further claimed that Mamata Banerjee does not want an alliance with the Congress party and that his party can fight in the coming Lok Sabha election on its own.
“We did not ask for alms. Mamata Banerjee herself said she wanted an alliance. We do not need Mamata Banerjee’s mercy. We can contest elections on our own. Mamata Banerjee actually doesn’t want an alliance as she is busy serving PM Modi,” Chowdhury said during a media interaction today.
Mamata Banerjee पर भड़के Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, ‘दया की कोई जरूरत नहीं, उनसे कौन भीख मांगने गया था’#AdhirRanjanChowdhury #TMC #MamataBanerjee #LatestNews #PunjabKesariTv pic.twitter.com/UNslcP2tGE
— Punjab Kesari (@punjabkesari) January 4, 2024
While speaking to the media in Murshidabad on Thursday, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury attacked Mamata Banerjee saying that her “real intention is out”. He added that TMC is offering the Congress 2 seats for the general elections which already have Congress MPs.
“The real intention of Mamata Banerjee is out. They are saying that they (TMC) will give two seats (to Congress) in West Bengal. Those seats already have Congress MPs. What new are they giving us? We won these two seats by defeating Mamata Banerjee and the BJP. What favour are they doing to us? Who will trust her (Mamata Banerjee)? It is Mamata who needs Congress to win… Congress can fight and is capable of winning more seats on its own. We will show. We don’t need to keep these two seats on Mamata’s pity…” Chowdhury said.
#WATCH | Murshidabad: On seat sharing in West Bengal for the Lok Sabha polls, state Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says, "The real intention of Mamata Banerjee is out. They are saying that they (TMC) will give two seats (to Congress) in West Bengal. Those seats already… pic.twitter.com/hzA6i9Za0D
— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2024
This comes after it was reported that the Trinamool Congress has offered 2 Lok Sabha seats to its I.N.D.I.A. bloc ally Congress party in West Bengal. Notably, it will be a slight climb down from the TMC side after earlier stating that they want to fight on all 42 seats in Bengal.
As reported earlier, TMC is said to have advocated for Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to take the place of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc’s convenor instead of Bihar CM and JDU supremo Nitish Kumar. While there is nothing against Nitish Kumar from the TMC side, they feel that Kharge will make a better convenor. Notably, a few days ago, there were reports that the I.N.D.I.A. block will make Mallikarjun Kharge their PM candidate. Interestingly, a few days back, some supporters of TMC’s Mamata Banerjee had started a website projecting her as the next PM.
Notably, the Congress party which earlier was playing the self-appointed ‘big brother’ role in the INDI Alliance boasting its “national party” status has been pushed on the backfoot, especially after its recent defeats in the Hindi heartland. Other than TMC in Bengal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also refused to share seats with the Congress party. On 17th December 2023, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal expressed his desire to contest all thirteen Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and one Lok Sabha seat in Chandigarh in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections.
During a public meeting in Bathinda, Punjab, with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Arvind Kejriwal said, “There are 13 seats in Punjab and one seat in Chandigarh. My heart says the way people are getting benefitted; you should give all 13 seats to us and make us strong.”
Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, another INDI bloc ally Shiv Sena (UBT) is at loggerheads with Congress over demand to contest 23 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut argued that their I.N.D.I. Alliance partner Congress would have to start with zero while they have been fighting on 23 seats in Lok Sabha adding that state leaders giving comments over the seat-sharing formula doesn’t matter.
From clashes over seat sharing to prime ministerial candidate against the invincible Narendra Modi, the I.N.D.I. bloc has not been able to sort out its issues while not much time is left for the elections. When the opposition bloc is fighting over a mere one or two seats, forget “as far as possible” it seems ‘impossible’ for these parties to even pretend to be ‘together’ for too long.
