Mamata says TMC will fight alone in Bengal, visible rift in INDI Alliance
The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, has publicly announced TMC's decision to fight alone in Bengal in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Lok Sabha elections 2024 are not far away, and the political divide between the INDIA Alliance has become visible, which could lead to them incurring losses.
On January 24, Wednesday, TMC leader and CM of W. Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, made it clear that her party is in no mood to join hands with the INDIA block or Congress to fight in elections in Bengal. As a matter of fact, TMC is part of the INDIA block.
RIFT between INDIA block and TMC
This decision by the Bengal CM clearly shows that everything is not sweet and stable in the INDIA alliance. The motto of the alliance is to win against BJP in the upcoming elections. The division of seats has already been a topic of contention between the alliance.
TMC doesn't need anyone else
Expressing her confidence in TMC, Mamata Banerjee said that her party does not care about how the alliance organizes itself in the rest of the country, but she is sure that TMC doesn't need to join hands with anyone in West Bengal to defeat the BJP. TMC already has a strong base in W. Bengal and, therefore, it is confident about its position in the state. Congress does not have a stronghold in the state, and therefore, it is hard for INC to negotiate with TMC in W. Bengal.
In the 2019 general elections, All India Trinamool Congress won 22 seats, and BJP won 18 seats out of the total 42 seats. In the 2021 Assembly election, AITC won 215 seats, and BJP won 77 seats out of a total of 292 seats. Congress stood at last with zero seats in the assembly elections.
Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi
Communication Gaps
Apart from this, there seems to be a communication gap between the Congress party and TMC regarding the seat division and their strategy in Bengal, as Mamata claims that both the parties are not on the same page regarding this, and therefore this particular decision is taken. The CM said, "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."
Talking further about the Congress party, the TMC supremo said that the Congress Party has not even bothered to let the Chief Minister know about the passage of Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Yatra from Bengal, which creates a sourness between the relations. She said, "They did not even bother to inform me that they would 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." "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 interfere," she added.
Congress attacks TMC
Earlier on Tuesday, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury launched an attack on TMC, saying that Mamata Banerjee is enjoying her Chief Ministership owing to Congress. He said, "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."
Rahul Gandhi covers up
Rahul Gandhi has tried covering up the mess spread by the party's state chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury by saying that talks between Congress and TMC are still going on, and they will reach a fruitful conclusion. He also said that his relations with Mamata Banerjee are stable and close. "The negotiations on seat-sharing are 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," said Rahul Gandhi, who is in Assam undertaking Nyay Yatra.
According to reports, TMC was willing to share only 3 seats with Congress out of a total of 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The rift between the two parties is clear now. This will create obstacles in their plan to fight BJP together.
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