Bengal LS Seat-Sharing: Mamata Slams Congress For Delaying Talks With 'Unjustified' Demands

Fissures within the I.N.D.I.A bloc has become evident, particularly between key allies Congress and TMC, regarding seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.

File Photo Of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

Source : PTI Images

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the Congress of causing delays in seat-sharing discussions in the state during a closed-door organisational meeting of the party's Birbhum unit, a district known for TMC's influence. Banerjee expressed her dissatisfaction with the Congress's "unjustified" demand for 10-12 Lok Sabha constituencies when her party was willing to share only two, according to a senior TMC leader who shared insights from the meeting, news agency PTI reported.

"Our party supremo clearly said that we don't need to think about seat-sharing talks with the Congress. She said that the party had offered two seats to them. But the Congress at times is demanding 10-12 seats," a TMC leader told PTI on the condition of anonymity. West Bengal has a total of 42 Lok Sabha seats.

As per the PTI report, the party sources disclosed that Banerjee urged district leaders to prepare for fighting alone to secure victory in both parliamentary seats from Birbhum.

"Mamata didi told us to prepare to fight in both the seats from the district," said the TMC leader, according to PTI. 

Banerjee's remarks at the internal meeting followed her previous public stance, where she advocated for regional leaders leading the fight against the BJP in specific regions, suggesting that the Congress could independently contest 300 Lok Sabha seats.

The I.N.D.I.A bloc, a 28-party opposition coalition, includes the CPI(M)-led Left Front, Congress, and TMC. However, in West Bengal, the CPI (M) and Congress have aligned against the TMC and the BJP.

Fissures within the I.N.D.I.A bloc has become evident, particularly between key allies Congress and TMC, regarding seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.

The TMC's offer of two seats, based on the Congress's 2019 Lok Sabha election performance, was considered insufficient by the latter, escalating tensions between the two parties.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a vocal TMC critic, asserted that the party wouldn't "beg" for seats from Bengal's ruling party.

In the 2019 elections, TMC secured 22 seats, Congress won two, and BJP secured 18 in the state.

The Trinamool Congress, having previously allied with the Congress in the 2001 assembly polls and the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, emphasised the need for the Congress to recognise its limitations in West Bengal and allow the ruling party to lead the state's political battle.