In yet another indicator that the INDI alliance is struggling to forge a cohesive unit, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced that her party will go solo into the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“Will fight LS polls alone,” said Mamata Banerjee, snapping ties with Congress and putting paid to weeks of speculations on the fate of INDI alliance 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 will defeat BJP.” the TMC supremo said, as quoted by ANI.
TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee snapped ties with Congress in West Bengal ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. "Will fight the LS polls alone," said Banerjee #tmc #mamatabanerjee #loksabhaelections #loksabha #election #congress #westbengal #politics #news #loksabhapolls pic.twitter.com/TfH9BOG31V
— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 24, 2024
“I gave many proposals but they rejected them from the beginning. From then, we have decided to fight the elections in Bengal alone,” Ms Banerjee said.
The Bengal Chief Minister also claimed she had not been informed of Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra passing through Bengal, contrary to claims by the Congress that they had invited INDIA bloc parties to join the Yatra.
“They did not even bother to inform me that they will be coming to West Bengal as a matter of courtesy even though I am a part of the INDIA bloc. So there is no relation with me as far as Bengal is concerned” Mamata Banerjee said.
“We will decide on what to do at the all-India level. We are a secular party. We will do whatever we can to defeat the BJP. The alliance does not comprise any one party. We have said that they should fight in some states and the regional parties should be left to fight alone in the other states. They should not interefere,” she said.
Notably, the announcement also illustrate the expectation mismatch and internal distrust among the INDI alliance partners. A day ago, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tried to reassure his suppprters, claiming everything is hunky-dory and the two parties will fight the elections collectively.
The breakdown in Trinamool and the Congress came after state unit chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdury continued his attack on the Bengal Chief Minister.
In a news conference on Tuesday, Adhir Chowdhury claimed that in the 2011 elections, Mamata Banerjee came to power with the mercy of Congress.
“This time, the elections will not be fought at the mercy of Mamata Banerjee. The Congress defeated the BJP and TMC in the two seats that Mamata Banerjee is leaving. The Congress party knows how to contest the elections. Mamta Banerjee is an opportunist; she came to power in 2011, with the mercy of Congress,” the Congress MP said.
Rahul Gandhi who is in Assam as part of his Nyay Yatra tried to quell the damage been done by the state unit chief’s repeated attacks by insisting that he had a good relationship with the TMC supremo.
“The negotiations on seat-sharing is underway, I don’t want to comment here. But Mamata Banerjee is very close to me and our party. Sometimes our leaders say something, their leaders say something, and it goes on. It’s a natural thing. Such comments won’t matter and these are not things that are going to disrupt things,” Rahul Gandhi had said on Tuesday.
The Trinamool Congress reportedly was willing to offer the Congress a maximum of three Lok Sabha seats of the 42 seats in Bengal. In the 2019 elections the Congress had won two Lok Sabha seats while the TMC had won 22 seats.
Earlier this week, Mamata Banerjee slammed the CPI-M for engaging in activities against the INDI alliance, fearing that it could inadvertently empower the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
“I suggested the name INDIA, but when I attend its meetings I see the Left controlling them and I don’t get the respect I deserve there,” Banerjee said at a public meeting at the Park Circus Maidan on Monday.
Nevertheless, by snapping ties with Congress and going alone, by Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday it appears that the doors are closed for the Congress in Bengal. For the INDIA bloc stitching together alliances has proven as stumbling block and it appears that now the alliance may not be able to put together a united front against the BJP.
(written with inputs from ANI syndicate feed)
