Trinamool refuses to hold seat-sharing talks with INDIA partner
Mamata Banerjee, chief of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and chief minister of Bengal, has declined to engage in discussions with the five-member alliance panel of the Indian National Congress regarding seat-sharing in her state for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier, Banerjee had proposed “two seats” to the Congress, but this offer was promptly rejected by Bengal Congress chief and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. The Congress, instead, has asserted its demand for several additional seats, such as Raiganj, Malda Uttar, Jangipur and Murshidabad.
As Trinamool is unwilling to engage in negotiations regarding these additional seats, the prospect of a pact between the two parties in Bengal appears dim.
According to sources in both the parties, the ruling party of Bengal has also expressed an interest to contest from two seats outside the state—one from Meghalaya and one from Goa. Trinamool leaders from Assam have also requested the party to contest from the state.
It is now up to Congress whether or not to support Mamata’s party in these states.
The alliance committee, comprising Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, Mukul Wasnik, Salman Khurshid and Mohan Prakash, has conducted an initial round of talks with political parties including the Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party, Aam Aadmi Party and and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
