‘Don’t need pity’: Congress attacks Mamata Banerjee over Bengal seat sharing

The rift in the Opposition’s INDIA bloc in West Bengal surfaced on Thursday as the Congress attacked Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for offering just two of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats.

Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said his party doesn’t need Banerjee’s pity and can win more seats on its own.

“The real intention of Mamata Banerjee is out. They are saying that they (TMC) will give two seats (to Congress) in West Bengal. Those seats already have Congress MPs. What new are they giving us? .We won these two seats by defeating Mamata Banerjee and the BJP. What favour are they doing to us?” he said.

He said the Trinamool needs the Congress more.

“Who will trust her (Mamata Banerjee)? It is Mamata who needs Congress to win… Congress can fight and is capable of winning more seats on its own. We will show. We don’t need to keep these two seats on Mamata’s pity,” he added.

Last month, Banerjee had hinted that she wanted the Trinamool Congress to contest the Lok Sabha elections alone. She had told party workers that only TMC can teach the BJP a lesson in the state.

“Only TMC can teach the BJP a lesson in West Bengal and set a model for others across the country. No other party can do it,” she said, adding that the INDIA bloc will contest the elections in the rest of the seats.

West Bengal has 42 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP pulled off a stellar performance in 2019 by winning 18 seats. The party, however, couldn’t perform to its expectations in the 2021 Bengal assembly polls, as the TMC scored a landslide win.

“Ensure that West Bengal does not slip out of the TMC’s hands. If we get fewer seats, the torture (by the BJP) will shoot up,” Banerjee said last week.

Bengal is one among many states where the INDIA bloc is facing rifts over seat sharing.

In Punjab, both the AAP and the Congress have hinted at contesting the elections separately. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today said: “AICC has told us to compete on all 13 seats…In the meeting today there was no discussion about Punjab on seat sharing or alliance. We have prepared to compete for all 13 seats. We will discuss the candidates and strategy to contest elections in the coming 3-4 months.”The two parties have also been attacking each other in Delhi.

Meanwhile, reacting to speculation that Nitish Kumar could be the convenor of the INDIA bloc, BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi took a sharp jibe.

“I fail to understand what kind of alliance (INDIA bloc) is. There is an atmosphere of distrust among each other. The differences are evident, but despite that they are saying ‘we will fight against Modi’. They are well aware that PM Modi’s work has disturbed their mathematics. They will get a 440-volt shock in the 2024 Lok Sabha election,” he said.