West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday (February 2) expressed doubts if Congress, whom she offered to contest on two seats in the state in upcoming Lok Sabha elections, would manage to win “even 40 seats” nationwide if the grand old party goes on to fight in 300 seats. Taking a swipe at Congress, Mamata said that she had offered the party to fight in two seats in West Bengal as part of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, however, it rejected as it wanted more. She said that the talks between TMC and Congress have not taken place since then.
“I had asked Congress to fight on 300 seats but they did not listen. Now, they have come to the state first to cause flutter among Muslim voters. I don't know if they will even win 40 seats if they contest 300 seats. I was offering two seats and would have let them win. But they wanted more. I said okay, contest on all 42 then. Rejected! There was no conversation with them since,” Mamata said.
“They have come to do programmes in Bengal but did not even inform me as an I.N.D.I.A Alliance member. I got to know through administrative sources. They had called Derek to request that the rally be allowed to pass through. Why come to Bengal then?” the Chief Minister asked.
Mamata dares Congress
She dared the Congress to defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where the saffron party won the Assembly polls held late last year.
“If you have the courage, defeat the BJP in UP, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh. If you have guts, defeat the BJP in Varanasi. You lose in places where you won earlier. Where were you when Manipur was burning? We had sent a team. Women were paraded naked, 200 churches were burnt. Now, they are doing photoshoots at tea stalls. They are migratory birds,” she said.
Congress and TMC have been at loggerheads with each other over seat-sharing in West Bengal for the Lok Sabha elections. The barbs exchanged on public platforms have resulted in the deepening of cracks in the I.N.D.I.A bloc which aims to defeat the BJP at the Centre.
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