In a significant blow to the “INDIA”
alliance, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her Trinamool
Congress or TMC party will independently contest the upcoming Lok Sabha
elections in the State. The decision to go solo comes after failed seat-sharing
talks with the Congress, a key member of the Opposition coalition.
“Whatever proposal I gave them, they
have refused all,” Banerjee remarked. “Since then, we have decided to go alone
in Bengal.”
Banerjee’s declaration follows a heated
exchange with Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who criticized her as an
opportunist and stated the party would contest the Lok Sabha elections
independently. Reports suggest the TMC is likely to field candidates in all 42
Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.
After the verbal clash between Banerjee
and Chowdhury, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi attempted to mend fences
by expressing his closeness to Mamata Banerjee. However, Banerjee conveyed her
dissatisfaction with the Congress, asserting that the party didn’t even inform
her about their Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra planned in West Bengal.
“As a matter of courtesy, they haven’t
even informed me they are going to hold a yatra in Bengal,” she revealed.
The ongoing yatra, currently in Assam,
is set to enter West Bengal through Bakshirhat in Cooch Behar district on
January 25. It will traverse various districts before re-entering Bengal through
Malda and traveling via Murshidabad, both Congress strongholds, on January 31.
Banerjee’s decision disrupts the Opposition’s
attempts to present a unified front against the ruling BJP in the upcoming Lok
Sabha polls.
