West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Wednesday that her Trinamool Congress (TMC) will go it alone in the eastern state in this summer’s national elections, a fresh testimony to discord in a grouping of 28 opposition parties that say they have joined forces against the Centre’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Banerjee’s comments are seen as a massive snub to the Congress party amid reports of differences between the two sides over seat-sharing in the Lok Sabha polls. Both are part of the opposition grouping that they have termed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA.
“We are not in touch with the Congress for Bengal. Let the Congress fight on its own. We will fight on our own. The final decision will be taken after Lok Sabha results,” Banerjee said in Kolkata, a possible reference to a post-election arrangement in the politically crucial state that sends 42 members to the Lok Sabha.
At the same time, Banerjee clarified that her party would remain a part of the INDIA grouping.
“They (Congress) can fight on…300 seats (nationally), but should not interfere in the zones of the regional parties. If they interfere here, then we will see. There is no controversy regarding this. At the national level, we, as a part of the INDIA alliance, will decide our strategy after the elections. We will do whatever it takes to defeat the BJP,” she added.
The ripples of the decision were felt in other parts of the country as Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) parliamentarian Manoj Jha, whose party is a constituent of the INDIA, said the grouping will iron out all differences. “Please wait for some time…May be the statement (by Banerjee) was given in a particular situation…If there is a conflict, then the alliance (INDIA) would solve it.”
Delhi Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj — his party, too, is part of the opposition bloc — said: “The TMC is a big party in West Bengal. The Congress and the Left have always been fighting against them. So seat-sharing with the TMC will be a little difficult. The issues between them will be resolved. Mamata Banerjee and (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi are committed to the success of the INDIA bloc. We are hopeful that all parties in the INDIA bloc will fight elections together.”
Banerjee’s decision came a day after Gandhi downplayed the differences between the TMC and the Congress. “We have a good relation with Mamata Banerjee. Yes, at times people say something…but that is not going to disrupt anything,” he said in Assam, where he was taking part in his party’s flagship “Bharat Jodi Nyay Yatra” that is expected to reach Bengal this week.
The BJP took potshots at Banerjee after Wednesday’s announcement, saying the move underscored the Chief Minister’s “desperation” to emerge as the face of the opposition alliance.
“Mamata Banerjee’s decision to fight alone in West Bengal is a sign of desperation. Unable to hold her political ground, she wants to fight all seats, in the hope that she can still be relevant, after the polls,” BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya wrote on X.
“Much against her desire, to emerge as the face of the Opposition alliance, no one ever proposed her name. Her several trips to Delhi, to build a national profile, didn’t work,” he said, and added: “But the fact that her announcement to go solo comes just before Rahul Gandhi’s circus arrives in Bengal, is a death knell for I.N.D.I Alliance.”
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC won 22 of the state’s 42 seats, but the BJP stunned analysts with an all-time best tally of 18 seats. While the Congress got two seats, the Left — which has ruled Bengal for over three decades and is part of the INDIA bloc — drew a blank.
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