New Delhi (TIP)- Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’ Brien on Friday, Feb 23, reiterated his party’s stand to go solo in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal. The TMC leader said that there has been ‘no change’ in the party’s stand of contesting all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, a few in Assam and one seat in Meghalaya. The remark came amid reports that the Congress party had revived talks with the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC for an alliance in the state.
“A few weeks ago…West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee stated that TMC is fighting all the 42 seats in Bengal. We are also in the fray in a few seats in Assam and the Tura Lok Sabha seat in Meghalaya. There is no change in this position,” Derek O’ Brien stated.
Earlier on Feb 23, the Congress said that the seat-sharing talks between the party and TMC were back on track after the latter had initially claimed that it would go solo in the LS elections in April-May.
The Congress has recently sealed an alliance in Uttar Pradesh with the Samajwadi Party. In the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress will contest 17 seats and the Samajwadi Party will contest 63 seats.
Raebareli, Amethi, Fatehpur Sikri, Saharanpur, Prayagraj, Maharajganj, Varanasi, Amroha, Jhansi, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Mathura, Sitapur, Barabanki, Kanpur, Bansgaon and Deoria will be contested by the Congress party. The rest are with SP.
In Maharashtra, the party is in alliance with Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’s Sena and Sharad Pawar’s NCP. Talks on finalising LS seats are currently underway between Congress and its INDIA bloc allies in the state. Out of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, AAP will reportedly contest four and Congress will contest three. Mamata Banerjee had last month said the talks with the Congress failed after the latter refused an offer she made. She also pointed to delays in finalising a seat-sharing agreement. She had also vowed to not ally with the Congress till it is an alliance with her bitter rival CPI(M).
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had claimed the TMC offered only two seats to his party. Later, Derek O’Brien claimed the politician was one of the main reasons for the party’s decision to contest the Lok Sabha polls alone.
Reacting to Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien’s remark that his party will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections alone, Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday that the Congress’s discussions with the TMC for an alliance in West Bengal are underway. Downplaying the leader’s remark, the politician said heated discussions keep taking place between the two parties but “we respect Mamata Banerjee”.
Jairam Ramesh made the remark on the sidelines of Rahul Gandhi‘s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad.
“Discussions are underway. Our doors are always open for TMC. Mamata Banerjee and TMC have said that they want to strengthen the INDIA Alliance and the biggest motive is to defeat the BJP,” he told ANI.