West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leaving I.N.D.I.A bloc has come as a big blow to the Congress party which has been trying to stitch an alliance across the country to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, Banerjee's call for 'ekla chalo' will thwart all its efforts. Sources told India TV that there is much more than what meets the eyes in Mamata calling off the alliance in West Bengal.
Why Mamata called off alliance?
As per sources, the TMC chief was not ready to give Congress more than two seats that it won in the previous Lok Sabha elections, Behrampur and South Malda, however, Congress was adamant on having at least eight seats in the state. Also, Banerjee wanted Congress to give at least two seats to TMC in neighbouring Assam. TMC wanted to contest from Kokrajhar and Karimganj though Congress lost both the seats in the previous Lok Sabha elections yet the party was not ready to offer these two seats to Banerjee, sources added.
TMC's internal surveys
They further stated that Banrajee sought seats on the basis of internal surveys that her party has done in Bengal as well as in Assam. As per TMC's internal surveys, Congress was not in the position to win all the seats that it was asking to contest on. Earlier on September 3, Banerjee has told Congress leaders about the seats that she wishes to contest and the basis of her demand was the surveys that TMC has done in these states, party sources said.
Additionally, a short notice call for a recently held I.N.D.I.A bloc meeting and the sitting arrangement in the previous meeting where Rahul Gandhi was seen sitting between Mamata Banerjee and Sitaram Yechuri was also considered as bad optics by the TMC.
Congress confident of alliance's unity
Meanwhile, the Congress party has expressed confidence in the "resilience" of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, anticipating that despite challenges in seat-sharing negotiations, the unity within the coalition will endure. While acknowledging potential roadblocks in the process, the party remains optimistic, emphasizing that the hurdles in seat allocation do not signify the conclusion of negotiations with Mamata Banerjee, as per sources.
Earlier on Wednesday, Banerjee announced that her party would go solo in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. She asserted that the TMC would not enter into any alliance in the state. "I had no discussions with the Congress party. I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I am not concerned about what will be done in the country but we are a secular party and in Bengal, we will alone defeat BJP." the TMC supremo had said. "I gave many proposals but they rejected them from the beginning. From then, we have decided to fight the elections in Bengal alone," she added.
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