Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is very much a part of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday.
“If you look at Mamata ji’s statement, Mamata ji is very much part of the INDIA alliance and most of the other members who were part of the INDIA alliance are still members in the INDIA alliance,” Gandhi, who is leading the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, said at a press conference in the Gumla district in Jharkhand.
The Congress MP said that negotiations on seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha elections are going on among members of the Opposition bloc. “There is posturing, and that is normal,” he said.
Gandhi noted that Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar has left the INDIA alliance and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party. “You can guess as to what the reasons are for him leaving,” he said. “It’s fine, we will fight in Bihar as the INDIA alliance. So, I don’t agree that lots of our partners are not part of the alliance.”
On January 24, Banerjee said that her party will fight elections alone on all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.
“I had no discussions with the Congress party,” said the West Bengal chief minister. “I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I am not concerned about what will be done in the country but we are a secular party and in Bengal, we will alone defeat BJP.”
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