Mamata Banerjee has a pre-scheduled programme in north Bengal. (FILE)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee could not attend the subsequent INDIA alliance coordination assembly on Wednesday, sources stated. Ms Banerjee, who stated the Congress misplaced the current state elections attributable to an absence of seat-sharing preparations with different INDIA members, has a pre-scheduled programme in north Bengal.

Her occasion Trinamool Congress may skip the assembly, the sources stated, as they “were unaware” of any such assembly.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge yesterday referred to as for the subsequent assembly of the opposition bloc even because it was handed massive defeats by the BJP in three states. The assembly is being held after a niche of three months for the reason that final one held in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1.

The assembly is predicted to chalk out plans for subsequent yr’s Lok Sabha election.

The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, handing a shattering defeat to the Congress to tighten its stranglehold within the Hindi heartland.

The solely proverbial silver lining for the Congress was Telangana the place it ousted the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) within the state meeting elections – billed by many as a semi-final earlier than subsequent yr’s common elections.

The outcomes nevertheless highlighted INDIA bloc allies

Earlier within the day, the Bengal Chief Minister blamed the Congress losses to its resolution to combat the polls by itself which, as per her, led to a “division of votes”.

“Congress has won Telangana. They would have won Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Some votes were cut by INDIA parties. This is the truth. We had said suggested a seat-sharing arrangement. They lost because of division of votes,” Ms Banerjee stated in an tackle to the West Bengal Assembly.

Yesterday, National Conference chief Omar Abdullah taunted the Congress for belatedly remembering the INDIA alliance. “On December 6, the Congress chief has invited some INDIA alliance leaders for lunch. They recalled the INDIA alliance after three months. Let’s see,” he stated.

The Congress, a day after the drubbing, stated it could introspect what occurred within the two states it held – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh – and Madhya Pradesh. Party common secretary organisation KC Venugopal stated the occasion may even look into “complaints” of INDIA bloc companions.

“We will definitely introspect what happened in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, we had hopes of winning these states. Last election in 2018, we swept all three states, how many Parliamentary seats we got from these states? Only three seats. That is why I say every election is different,” he stated.