Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee aired her party’s stand on a possible strategy of opposition unity in the electoral battle ahead. (File Photo/PTI)
Mamata Banerjee supports Congress: The TMC chief clarified that she expected the seat-sharing formula to give priority to regional players in areas where they were strong
After seeing glimpses of strained relations with the Congress, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to support the grand old party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in areas where it is “strong”.
The statement comes in the wake of strained relations between the Congress and the TMC even as Banerjee approaches regional parties to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party from power.
During the political campaign, the leaders of both the parties were seen openly attacking each other. Relations deteriorated further last year when several Congress leaders defected to the Trinamool Congress just before the assembly elections in Goa, Meghalaya and West Bengal.
With the statement on Monday, the TMC chief for the first time aired his party’s stand on the possible strategy of opposition unity in the electoral battle ahead.
He said, ‘Wherever the Congress is strong, let them fight. We will support them, there is nothing wrong in that. But, they have to support other political parties as well,” he told reporters at the state secretariat.
“I am supporting you in Karnataka, but you are fighting against me every day. This should not be the policy,” she said.
Banerjee made it clear that she expected the seat-sharing formula to give priority to regional players in areas where they are strong.
“Priority should be given to strong regional parties. Wherever a regional party is strong, BJP cannot fight… People are very disappointed, disappointed… “The economy is already ruined and democratic rights are being bulldozed; Even wrestlers have not been spared. So, I think whoever is strong in their field should fight together.”
Giving an example, he said that priority should be given to Akhilesh Yadav (and his Samajwadi Party) in Uttar Pradesh.
“However, I am not saying that Congress should not fight in UP. Let us decide, nothing is in final stage right now,” the CM said.
Congratulating the people in Karnataka for the mandate in favor of change, the TMC chief had earlier said that “brutal authoritarian and majoritarian” politics has been defeated.
He also predicted that the BJP would also lose in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where it would face the Congress.
Congress reaction on CM Mamta’s offer
Expressing displeasure with the TMC chief, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that when the election campaign was going on, Banerjee did not appeal for the victory of any Congress leader.
“She goes to UP, Bihar but did not come to Karnataka where Congress was fighting. And after the party’s big victory in Karnataka, they realized that it is difficult to move forward without the Congress,” Chowdhury said.
“If Sonia Yes Otherwise, you would never have got a chance to capture the power of Bengal in 2011. Later you did the work of driving away the Congress?”
(With inputs from PTI)
