Committed to INDIA, but Congress should acknowledge its limitations in Bengal: Trinamool Congress

Kolkata, January 13

Advertisement

The Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is abstaining from the virtual meeting of the INDIA bloc, on Saturday, affirmed its commitment to it, but said that Congress should recognise its limitations in Bengal and permit the party to spearhead the political battle in it.

Top leaders of parties of the opposition INDIA bloc are holding discussions on strengthening the alliance, chalking out a formula on seat sharing and deciding whether to have a convenor of the opposition parties’ grouping.

This is the second attempt as the previous attempt to hold a virtual meeting a few days ago did not materialise.

A TMC MP, familiar with the situation, emphasising the party’s ‘dedication’ to the grouping said, “We are committed to the INDIA alliance and want to work together to defeat the BJP. But we sincerely wish that the Congress leadership acknowledges the limitations and weaknesses of their Bengal unit and allows us (TMC) to lead the fight in the state.”

The TMC, on Friday, said that Mamata Banerjee would not be able to attend the virtual meeting as she has “prior engagements and will not be able to change them at 16 hours’ notice”.

“We were told no one else can attend as only one person is allowed from each of the INDIA constituent parties,” he said.

Earlier, the TMC had declined to send representatives to meetings with the Congress national alliance committee on seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, citing its prior stance which it had communicated to the Congress.

The TMC had offered Congress two seats in West Bengal based on the result of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The Congress, however, deemed the offer inadequate.

Last week, the TMC Lok Sabha party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay indicated the party’s willingness to collaborate with the Congress, but said the party would go solo if negotiations fail. Recently, state Congress president and the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is a vocal critic of the TMC, asserted that his party would not ‘beg’ for seats from the TMC.

Multiple sources familiar with the situation have confirmed that the TMC could consider sharing three to four seats with the Congress out of the state’s total 42 Lok Sabha seats.

In the 2019 elections, the TMC secured 22 seats and the Congress bagged two, while the BJP secured 18 seats in the state. Chowdhury had won the Baharampur seat, while Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury, a former union minister, secured a third consecutive win from Malda Dakshin.

Banerjee’s proposal for an alliance between the TMC, Congress and the Left in West Bengal, in November last year, met swift dismissal from the CPI (M) and criticism from some Congress leaders.  Days later, she accused the two parties of aligning with the BJP and asserted that the TMC would confront the saffron camp in West Bengal.

The TMC had allied with the Congress thrice in the past – the 2001 assembly polls, 2009 Lok Sabha elections and the 2011 assembly polls, which saw the ousting of the CPI(M)-led Left Front government of 34 years.