On Friday (2nd February), Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee took potshots at the Congress party for its inability to win 40 seats on its own in the Lok Sabha and aspiring for a large seat-sharing arrangement in West Bengal.
“We had told the Congress party to fight 300 seats alone and give the remaining 243 seats to other regional parties to contest wherever they are strong. We had asked the Congress party not to be over-smart,” she was heard saying
Mamata Banerjee added, “But they first came for Bengal. Like the BJP is appeasing Hindus, the Congress is trying to appease Muslims in Bengal. We are being sidelined despite being representative of all communities.”
Mamata Banerjee tears into Congress.
— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) February 2, 2024
Says alliance partners offered Congress 300 seats, of which it may not even win 40.
Furious that BJ Yatra is passing through Bengal without her knowledge.
Says Congress and CPM are in Bengal to tickle Muslims.
I.N.D.I. Alliance is dead. RIP. pic.twitter.com/PQUeYD3pVn
“This cannot happen! Listen, I still dare to say this: If anyone can take on the BJP, then it is the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bengal. Only we can make all regional parties stand together on one stage. Congress cannot do it alone,” she further emphasised.
The Trinamool Congress supremo continued, “We do not even know whether Congress will win 40 seats (in the Lok Sabha). Do you have too much pride? I had promised to give you 2 seats (in Bengal). I had assured to make you win in those constituencies.”
“But you said that 2 seats are not enough. Do you want us to give you all 42 seats in Bengal? Rejected. Since then, we have no relation or talks with the Congress.”
“They call us part of I.N.D.I. Alliance but did not bother to inform about their programmes in Bengal. None from the Congress party informed me. I got to know this from the local administration.”
“If you have the courage, they defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad, Benaras, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,” she concluded.
The Background of the Controversy
Last month, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury hit out at Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and called her an ‘opportunist.’
The development came following media reports that the TMC was planning to avoid seat-sharing with Congress and field candidates in all Lok Sabha constituencies.
He said, “We won’t fight the election with Mamata’s help. Congress knows how to fight on its own strength, and Mamata Banerjee should remember that it was with Congress’s support she came to power in Bengal.”
Reportedly, TMC had offered only 2 seats to the grand old party while it was hoping for a larger share of seats. Later, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi publicly snubbed Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for claiming that Congress would fight elections in West Bengal without the assistance of the Trinamool Congress.
While speaking about the matter during his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Gandhi remarked, “Mamata Banerjee is very close to me. Sometimes our leaders say something. Such comments won’t matter.”
He added that talks with the Trinamool Congress on seat-sharing in West Bengal for the 2024 Lok Sabha election were underway although Mamta Banerjee has clearly denied such assertions in her latest speech.
