'We Don't Need Mamata's Pity': Congress's Adhir Ranjan Hits Out At TMC Over Seat-Sharing In Bengal

Chowdhury lashed out at Mamata's rumoured offer of 2 of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress, saying those constituencies are already with the Congress. 

New Delhi: West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over seat-sharing in Bengal for the Lok Sabha polls, further deepening cracks within opposition bloc I.N.D.I.A.

Chowdhury lashed out at Mamata's rumoured offer of 2 of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress, saying those constituencies are already with the Congress. 

Addressing a press conference in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, he said, "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..."

The TMC has reportedly proposed two seats for the Congress to contest in the upcoming general elections.

Hitting out at the ruling party in the state, Adhir said he needed no favour from the TMC as his party was quite capable of retaining those seats in the polls that are likely to be scheduled in the summer.

"It is Mamata who needs the Congress to win, not the other way around. We are quite capable of waging a solo fight in the state and winning more seats than we did last time. We are prepared to show as much. We don't need Mamata's pity and are quite capable of retaining these two seats (even if the TMC contests them)," the Congress state chief added.

With little time left for the Lok Sabha polls, the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc parties last met on December 19, 2023, and decided to finalise seat-sharing as soon as possible.

At the meeting, some leaders also proposed Mallikarjun Kharge's name as the prime ministerial face of the coalition, but the Congress chief said it is important to win first and the leadership issue can then be decided "democratically".