Murshidabad/Kolkata: Revealing deepening cracks in INDIA opposition bloc ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the West Bengal unit of the Congress on Thursday took a swipe at the Trinamool Congress, blaming the ruling party in the state for the lack of progress in seat-sharing talks.
Congress MP and the party's West Bengal chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury hit out at TMC Supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee voicing doubts over her intent to go into a seat allotment with the party in the state.
Addressing a press conference in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal on Thursday, Adhir also scoffed at Mamata's rumoured offer of 2 of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress, saying those constituencies are already with the Congress and his party was quite capable of retaining them in the polls that are likely to be scheduled in the summer.
"The true face of Mamata Banerjee is out. They (TMC) are saying that they are ready to give us two seats in West Bengal. The seats in question are already with us. Both these constituencies elected Congress MPs. So, what new are they giving us? We won these seats defeating Mamata Banerjee's TMC and the BJP. Are they doing us a favour? Who will trust her (Mamata) with seat allotment?" Adhir said.
A key constituent of the INDIA bloc, the TMC has reportedly proposed 2 seats for the Congress to contest in the general elections. In a further dig at the ruling party in the state, Adhir said he needed no favour from the TMC as his party was quite capable of going solo in the state.
"It is Mamata who needs the Congress to win, not the other way around. We are quite capable of waging a solo fight in the state and winning more seats than we did last time. We are prepared to show as much. We don't need Mamata's pity and are quite capable of retaining these two seats (even if the TMC contests them)," the Congress state chief added.
On Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's remarks, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh, while speaking to media in Kolkata, said "nobody needs Congress in West Bengal." "In the 2021 Assembly Elections, TMC fought alone and came to power, whereas Congress allied with the Left and won zero seats... Nobody needs Congress in WB. But for the spirit of the INDIA alliance, TMC is supporting Congress and Mamata Banerjee will make the final call... When Mamta Banerjee offered them two seats in Bengal for the upcoming elections, they said they wanted eight. I want to ask them, "You had 294 seats in the Assembly Elections, why didn't you win any?" Ghosh said. (With ANI inputs)
Read More
