New Delhi: A day after Congress suffered a crushing defeat in the Hindi heartland, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the grand old party's decision to fight the polls on its own favoured the BJP since it led to a division of votes.
Addressing the Assembly, Banerjee said, "Congress has won Telangana. They would have won Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Some votes were cut by INDIA parties. This is the truth. We had said suggested a seat-sharing arrangement. They lost because of division of votes," reported NDTV.
Speaking on BJP's win in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan assembly polls, Banerjee said there was nothing to rejoice for the saffron party as the vote margins were slim.
Banerjee stated that the BJP won more seats than the Congress in Rajasthan because of the split in votes among opponents, reported PTI.
The remarks come after the Congress suffered defeats in three states - Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan. The party managed to win just one seat in Mizoram after contesting all 40 seats.
Speaking on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bengal CM said that if there is proper consensus on seat sharing ahead of the polls, the saffron party will not be able to retain power at the Centre.
"A strategy has to be finalised. I think BJP won't come to power if seats sharing is finalised," she added.
She, however, said that the poll results are unlikely to impact the future of the grand-opposition I.N.D.I.A. alliance since the results are personal defeats of Congress.
"This is Congress's defeat and not the defeat of the people. But I strongly believe that the I.N.D.I.A. alliance will remain united and work together," the chief minister said.
Meanwhile, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh told PTI, "The collectivism and the spirit of the (INDIA) alliance were missing throughout these elections, which led to the failure of Congress."