Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement on Wednesday that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will contest all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal by itself her state got here after she waited for over a month to listen to from the Congress over her December 19 supply of two seats.
A high TMC chief near Banerjee mentioned the feedback of Rahul Gandhi, who is because of lead the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra into Bengal, on Tuesday that the negotiations on seat-sharing had been underway at the same time as there have been no talks irked Banerjee. “She felt humiliated,” the chief mentioned, requesting anonymity.
Gandhi mentioned Banerjee was very near him and the Congress. “Generally our leaders say one thing, their leaders say one thing, and it goes on. It’s a pure factor,” he mentioned in Assam.
A Congress chief concerned in negotiations with allies mentioned the occasion management would possibly attain out to Banerjee. “However there’s additionally resentment towards Trinamool within the occasion [Congress state] unit.”
A West Bengal Congress chief mentioned the state unit expressed its reservation to the management about allying with the TMC for the nationwide ballot citing the police circumstances, atrocities, and poaching. However the management was clear a few pact with TMC for the sake of the Indian Nationwide Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
Congress chief Jairam Ramesh provided an olive department minutes after Banerjee’s assertion, saying they can’t think about INDIA with out TMC.
A 3rd Congress chief identified the TMC is the biggest ally of the Congress within the INDIA bloc. It might ship a improper political message forward of the nationwide polls bloc if TMC walks out, the chief added. “If Trinamool quits the alliance, it might need a far-reaching consequence. Our capability to ally will likely be severely dented. We’ll come below super stress from different allies and our seat negotiations will likely be affected.”
TMC provided Malda Dakshin and Baharampur seats to the Congress. Congress gained the 2 seats in 2019.
A second TMC chief mentioned the Congress was informed it might get an additional seat if Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge or his predecessor Sonia Gandhi spoke to Banerjee. Trinamool additionally desires a seat every in Meghalaya and Assam.
One other TMC chief mentioned the Congress ought to acknowledge its weak point in Bengal. “In 39 of the 42 seats, the Congress obtained lower than 4% votes. It gained two seats and in one other seat, it obtained lower than 10% votes in 2019.”
The TMC gained 22 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal in 2019 whereas the BJP bagged 18. West Bengal sends the third highest (42 out of 543) lawmakers to the Lok Sabha.