Kolkata:

Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress at present introduced candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, snubbing Congress which had simply days earlier mentioned that “doors are still open” for seat-sharing talks for the upcoming elections.

The Congress and Trinamool are a part of the INDIA bloc – an alliance of opposition events that had come collectively to problem the BJP within the upcoming elections. The snub at present is in keeping with Mamata Banerjee’s declaration that solely her get together can problem the BJP in Bengal. The breakdown in talks with Congress over seats was another excuse.

The Congress hit again quickly after Trinamool released the list.

“The Indian National Congress has repeatedly declared its desire to have a respectable seat-sharing agreement with the TMC in West Bengal. The Indian National Congress has always maintained that such an agreement has to be finalised through negotiations and not by unilateral announcements,” Congress chief Jairam Ramesh mentioned on X (previously Twitter).  

“The Indian National Congress has always wanted the INDIA group to fight the BJP together,” he added.

The Indian National Congress has repeatedly declared its want to have a good seat-sharing settlement with the TMC in West Bengal. The Indian National Congress has at all times maintained that such an settlement needs to be finalised via negotiations and never by unilateral…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 10, 2024

Congress chief in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury launched a fierce assault on the Chef Minister, accusing her of sending a message to the PMO by not together with Congress within the seat-sharing settlement.

“Mamata Banerjee has proven today that none of the political parties of India should trust a leader like her… Mamata Banerjee is in fear that if she continues to be in the INDIA alliance, PM Modi will be unhappy. By separating herself from the INDIA alliance, she has sent a message to the PMO, don’t be unhappy with me, I am not standing to fight against the BJP,” mentioned Mr Chowdhury.

In its listing of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, Trinamool Congress dropped no less than eight sitting MPs and introduced in a number of new faces similar to former cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Kirti Azad. Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, a seat which Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has received 5 occasions. Fielding a well-liked determine from Mr Chowdhury’s stronghold can also be being seen as Trinamool’s response to his repeated assaults on the get together.

From the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, the place Sandeshkhali is located, Trinamool fielded its former MP Haji Nurul Islam by dropping sitting MP Nusrat Jahan.

The Trinamool additionally renominated expelled Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar seat for the second consecutive time period.

Congress and the Trinamool had been attempting to determine a seat-sharing association in Bengal for months, however TMC walked off the desk each time the grand outdated get together demanded for than 3 seats within the state.

Owing to the tussle, Ms Banerjee didn’t be a part of the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra passing via Bengal, depriving the INDIA bloc of showcasing optics that might have helped the alliance counter the BJP’s political assaults over underlying battle inside the Opposition entrance.