NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday declared that her party would fight the Lok Sabha elections ‘alone’ in West Bengal, hinting at a split in the Opposition INDIA bloc. CM Mamata Banerjee’s statement drew sharp reactions from several political leaders.
The Congress on Wednesday reacted to West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee’s statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that  no one can imagine the bloc without Banerjee. ,who is in Assam’s Barpeta, along with Rahul Gandhi, as part of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, said, “The TMC is a pillar of the INDIA alliance. We cannot imagine the INDIA alliance without Mamata ji. The I.N.D.I.A bloc will fight the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal and all (partners) will participate,” Ramesh asserted.
An angry Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced that Trinamool Congress will contest 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal on its own and will consider an India alliance with the Congress only after the results are declared. Ms. Banerjee’s latest decision is a heavy blow to the India alliance.
TMC is an important component of the India alliance. Mamta said that any agreement can be considered after the elections. Aam Aadmi Party has also announced to contest on all 13 seats in Punjab. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann made it clear that about 40 names are being considered to contest elections on all 13 seats in Punjab.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that she has not talked to anyone in the Congress on seat sharing in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. His comment came a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said about seat sharing in Assam. Talks were going on with TMC. Ramesh said, “Mamata Banerjee’s full statement was that we want to defeat BJP and will take all possible steps for it. During a long journey, we get speed breakers and red lights. It does not mean that we will push back the journey. The journey crosses the speed breaker and the red light turns green.”
Citing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, he asserted that the TMC and especially Banerjee, who is a leader of West Bengal and India, are “very important pillars of the I.N.D.I.A alliance”. Ramesh also claimed that seat-sharing talks are “going on” with the TMC for West Bengal” and a solution to the stalemate will be found soon.
Mamta said “I have not had any discussion with the Congress. I have always said that we will fight alone in Bengal. I gave them (Congress) many proposals…but they rejected them. I am not worried about this.” What will be done in Bengal? But we are a secular party and we alone will defeat BJP in Bengal. Now our party has decided that we will not have any relation with Congress in Bengal.
In further signs of anger, he also attacked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, which is expected to enter Bengal on Thursday. “They are coming to my state… but they did not show me the courtesy to inform me even though I am part of the India block. So as far as Bengal is concerned, there is no connection with me,” Ms Banerjee has a good rapport with  Sonia Gandhi, but her relations with Mr Gandhi are considered strained. She has already made it clear that she is against allowing her ‘ally’ to contest elections in Bengal.
Mamta Banerjee had said that her party will be included in the India alliance but Trinamool Congress will fight alone in Bengal. In Bengal, it is only Trinamool that can teach a lesson to BJP..
Meanwhile, BJP’s Amit Malviya has taken a sharp dig at Ms Banerjee’s announcement. He described it as “a sign of desperation”. “Unable to save her political ground, Mamata Banerjee wants to contest on all seats, in the hope that she will be able to remain relevant even after the elections…” the head of BJP’s IT cell posted on Twitter.
On Tuesday, Ms Banerjee criticized the Congress’s “unreasonable” demand for 10-12 Lok Sabha seats in her state. He had offered two seats pointing to its ‘poor record’. It won four seats in 2014 and only two seats in 2019. “(Ms Banerjee) said, ‘Don’t think about seat-sharing with the Congress’… She said TMC offered two seats to the Congress but He asked for 10-12.” .Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had last week warned the Congress against “unfair bargaining”.
While commenting on the role of India Alliance and Congress, Mamata said that ‘Congress can contest the remaining 300 seats, but they should not interfere in the areas of regional parties. If they interfere here (Bengal), we will see them. We are still part of the alliance. However, Mamata Banerjee said that she will decide on her further strategy after the national level elections as a partner of the India Alliance. Mamta said, ‘We will do whatever is necessary to defeat BJP.’
To justify its decision, Trinamool Congress is also basing it on its performance in the previous elections. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress won 4 seats and in 2019 only 2 seats in West Bengal. TMC is an important constituent party of the India Alliance of 28 opposition parties. Recently, the party had proposed to make Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge the Prime Ministerial face in alliance with AAP and other parties.
The INC’s vote share went from 13.5 per cent in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections to 9.7 per cent in 2014 and fell to 5.6 per cent in 2019. Of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, INC was reduced from six in 2009 to four in 2014 to just two seats in the last elections. In the same span, the AITC increased its vote share from 31.2 per cent in 2009 to 39.8 per cent in 2014 and 43.3 per cent in 2019.

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