Bengal CM rules out truck with Oppn alliance
New Delhi, Jan 25:
The fledgling I.N.D.I.A bloc floated by the opposition parties to take on the BJP suffered a double blow on Wednesday with two key partners Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) deciding to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha election alone in their respective stronghold of Punjab and West Bengal.
Speaking to newspersons in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee announced that her party would go solo in the state in the general elections, citing the failure of seat-sharing talks with the Congress. She also said her party would have no truck with the I.N.D.I.A bloc before the election.
“We will contest the election for Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats on our strength and have no truck with the I.N.D.I.A bloc,” Banerjee said.
She said her party wanted to give two seats to the Congress, but the latter wanted more seats which was not acceptable to the TMC.
“I have no truck with the Congress… we will fight alone (and) will decide on an all-India level after the election, ” the TMC chairperson said.
Interestingly, Banerjee’s announcement came a day before Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was scheduled to enter West Bengal.
She slammed Gandhi and his yatra, and said, “They are scheduled to come to West Bengal, but they (Congress) didn’t have the courtesy to inform us.”
Speaking about the national scenario ahead of the polls, she said her party ahd suggested to the Congress to contest around 300 seats, and leave the rest to the regional parties to fight in their respective areas of influence to secure a one-on-one fight with the BJP. “But they (Congress) said they would take their own decision”.
The second whammy for I.N.D.I.A came as Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that AAP will contest the LS elections alone in all the seats in the State.
Addressing the media in New Delhi, Mann said, “We have nothing to do with Congress in Punjab.”
“Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will win the elections on all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Punjab will become a hero in the country,” he said.
There had been much speculation of the top Congress and AAP leaderships working on a seat-sharing formula for Punjab though large sections in both parties were staunchly opposed to an electoral tie-up between the two outfits/
On West Bengal Chief Minister’s decision to go solo, Mann said that was her position. In Punjab, AAP will contest the elections independently.
However, after Banerjee’s announcement, AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said seat distribution in West Bengal is complicated but would be resolved.
