"No Tie-Up With Congress": Mamata Banerjee's Bengal Twist Stuns INDIA Bloc

The Trinamool Congress will contest the elections for Bengal's 42 Lok Sabha seats on its own steam, and only consider a pan-India alliance with the Congress after results are declared, a furious Mamata Banerjee declared Wednesday. Ms Banerjee's words deliver what appears to be a final blow to hopes the two parties - widely seen as important members of the INDIA opposition bloc - will reach any agreement.

"I had no discussions with the Congress. I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I gave them (the Congress) many proposals... but they rejected them. I am not concerned about what will be done in the (rest of the) country... but we are a secular party and, in Bengal, we alone will defeat BJP."

Trinamool sources later told news agency PTI the party is open to "courtesy back-channel" talks but there is almost no hope of a deal being struck.

In further signs of fraying tempers, she also hit out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', which is expected to enter Bengal on Thursday but might skip Kolkata.

"They are coming to my state... but did not have courtesy to inform me, even though I am part of the INDIA bloc. So there is no relations with me, as far as Bengal is concerned," she told reporters.

Ms Banerjee has a good rapport with Congress matriarch Sonia Gandhi, but her ties with Mr Gandhi are seen as strained. She has made it clear, earlier too, she is against allowing her 'ally' to contest in Bengal.

"INDIA will be present in India (but) in Bengal the Trinamool Congress will fight. In Bengal it is only Trinamool that can teach the BJP a lesson. It can show the country the path to victory..." she said earlier.

Minutes later the Congress responded through comms boss Jairam Ramesh.

Mr Ramesh, who is with Rahul Gandhi and the yatra in Assam, said his party "cannot imagine INDIA bloc without Mamataji". Mr Ramesh insisted "all INDIA partners will unitedly fight Lok Sabha polls in Bengal".

Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said the parry would "talk to Trinamool".

"There will be an alliance in West Bengal. Our aim is to decrease BJP seats. (We) will talk to Trinamool... Mamata Banerjee is a senior leader in INDIA  alliance. These are small differences (that) will be sorted."

Ms Banerjee's announcement has drawn a scathing jibe from the BJP's Amit Malviya, who called it a "sign of desperation". "Unable to hold her political ground, Mamata Banerjee wants to fight all seats, in the hope that she can still be relevant, after the polls..." the BJP's IT Cell boss posted on X.

The Trinamool vs Congress squabble over seat-sharing, and the larger picture of how INDIA might defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP, has rumbled on for weeks with no apparent resolution, with neither side willing to back down. The Congress has, so far, ignored deadlines to close a deal.

On Tuesday Ms Banerjee criticised the Congress' "unjustified" demand for 10-12 Lok Sabha seats in her state; she had offered two, pointing to its' abysmal record. It won four seats in 2014 and only two in 2019.

A senior Trinamool leader, on condition of anonymity, told news agency PTI, "(Ms Banerjee) said, 'Don't think about seat-sharing with Congress'... she said she offered two seats but they demanded 10-12".

Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh last week warned the Congress against "unjustified bargaining".

READ | Trinamool's New Plan As Seat-Sharing Talks With Congress Hit Roadblock

Meanwhile, Ms Banerjee, in a show of strength, has directed party leaders in Birbhum and Murshidabad district to begin planning for the combined five Lok Sabha seats on their own. The latter is key because one of its three seats is Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's constituency of Berhampore. 

Mr Chowdhury, the Congress' state unit boss, is fiercely opposed to sharing seats with the Trinamool, and has repeatedly attacked Ms Banerjee, despite efforts from leaders on both sides to stitch an alliance. He responded to the offer by declaring Ms Banerjee owed her success to the "mercy" of the Congress.

Rahul Gandhi, asked about these attacks, played them down, insisting "Mamata Banerjee is very close to me and our party" and that it is "natural", sometimes, for the two sides to criticise each other.

READ | "Mamata Banerjee Close To Me": Rahul Gandhi Downplays Congress Leader's Jab

"But they are not going to disrupt the relations between the Congress and the TMC," he insisted.

Meanwhile, away from Bengal, the Trinamool is also unhappy over the Congress' refusal to play second fiddle to regional parties when required. The Congress has already been criticised for this by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav after it refused to share seats for November's Madhya Pradesh election.

READ | "Defeat Of Congress, Not The People": Mamata Banerjee On BJP's 3-State Win

Ms Banerjee on Monday said the Congress was welcome to fight 300 seats on its own, but urged the party to surrender some seats to regional parties that will have the best chance of defeating the BJP. 

READ | "Congress Can Contest 300 Lok Sabha Seats, But...": Mamata Banerjee

"Particular regions should be left to regional parties. They can fight 300 seats alone... I will help them, I will not contest those seats... but they are adamant about doing what they want," she said.

"I have the power to take on the BJP, but some people don't want to listen to us about seat-sharing. If you don't want to fight the BJP, then at least don't give away seats to it," the fiery Trinamool leader said.

Ms Banerjee is one of the few opposition leaders to have enjoyed electoral success against the BJP in recent years, after orchestrating a statement win over the saffron party in the last Assembly election.

In 2019 too she ensured her party had an edge, winning 22 seats. That, though, was less than the 34 from five years ago. Ominously, BJP went from two to 18.

With input from agencies

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