Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a key ally of the INDIA bloc, on Friday said that her party is ready to fight solo on all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, if “due importance” is not given.
She expressed this during a closed-door organisational meeting of the party’s Murshidabad district unit – a region with a significant minority population, and traditionally seen as a Congress stronghold. The CM also asked her party workers to ensure that the TMC wins the three Lok Sabha seats in the district. The Congress won only the Berhampur seat in the district in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which was secured by five-time MP and state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
“Our party supremo Mamata Banerjee clearly stated that the TMC is one of the most important partners of the INDIA bloc. But in Bengal, if RSP, CPI, CPI(M) are given more importance by excluding us, we will carve our own path, and preparations should be made to fight and win in all the 42 seats,” a senior TMC leader, requesting anonymity, said, as quoted by PTI.
Another TMC leader, requesting anonymity, said, “The party chief said that we need to make preparations to win all three Lok Sabha seats. When one of our MLAs, Humayun Kabir, pointed out that Adhir Chowdhury is a factor in the minority-dominated district, Banerjee declined to attach much importance to this assertion, saying TMC will taste success if it puts up a united fight.”
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M)-led Left Front, Congress and the TMC are part of the 28-party strong INDIA opposition front. In West Bengal, the CPI(M) and Congress have aligned against the TMC and BJP.
Fissures within the INDIA alliance have become evident, particularly between key allies, the Congress and TMC, regarding seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, in West Bengal. The TMC’s offer of two seats to the Congress based on the 2019 performance of the party was deemed insufficient by the party, while Chowdhury had also said that it won’t “beg” for seats from the TMC.
In the 2019 elections, the TMC secured 22 seats, Congress won two, and BJP bagged 18 seats in the state.