Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi (File).
New Delhi:
Congress’s fresh attempt to seal a seat-share deal with Trinamool for the general elections may not end well, sources told NDTV on Friday morning, with Bengal’s ruling party unlikely to back down from its initial offer. . Sources said Congress has reduced its demand to five Lok Sabha seats.
However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appears firm on her earlier stance; She had said that she would give only two seats to a party that would win the same number of wins in the 2019 elections and zero wins in the 2021 state elections.
And it seems that is still his position. Highlighting the division, a Trinamool spokesperson told NDTV, “We are not able to find a third seat for the Congress even with binoculars.”
“(However), if consensus is reached an announcement will be made soon,” the spokesperson said.
Sources said the Congress wants to contest three seats currently held by the BJP, including one in the party’s stronghold of North Bengal. This is in addition to the offers – Berhampur and Malda (South) – which it won last time.
Congress wants to keep Darjeeling, Malda (North) and Raiganj under the control of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party. Purulia – also under BJP control – is also in the mix, but seems least likely to surrender.
Read | Congress-Trinamool seat talks back after Mamata’s displeasure: Sources
The Congress – buoyed by a raft of agreements with the Samajwadi Party and the Aam Aadmi Party – reached out on Thursday evening in hopes of rapprochement with Ms Banerjee, who, angered by the unrealistic demands she made last month, cut ties and gave her India membership. on hold.
“…Only Trinamool can teach a lesson to BJP in Bengal…” he had declared, and then dealt a sharp blow to his colleague. “I told the Congress… ‘You don’t have a single MLA here, I am offering two MP seats and we will ensure that you win them.’ He said… ‘No’. So I said, ‘Now I will not give even a single seat.’
Meanwhile, the Congress has also stepped up talks in Maharashtra, with Rahul Gandhi speaking directly to Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to resolve the impasse on eight seats.
Read | Amidst the seat dispute, Rahul Gandhi spoke to Uddhav Thackeray on phone.
The party is hoping to capitalize on the positivity after the pact with Akhilesh Yadav’s SP for 17 seats in Uttar Pradesh and Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP for three and more seats in Delhi.
Read | After Delhi, AAP-Congress seal seat deal for Goa, Haryana, Gujarat: Sources
Seat-sharing has been one of the block’s problems, with many Congress allies forcing the party to compromise on its own terms, especially in view of its recent dismal electoral record. That loss was reportedly highlighted by former party chief Sonia Gandhi during talks with the Samajwadi Party.
Sources said Ms Gandhi spoke to UP Congress leaders and told them their demands were “unrealistic”, and they should prioritize a functional alliance and a strong chance of winning the elections.
Read | Sonia, Priyanka Gandhi step in to resolve UP seat-sharing deadlock
Formed in June, the block has already lost Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) – a founding member – and Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtra Lok Dal, which has influence among the Jat community in western UP. Both JDU and RLD have formed an alliance with BJP.
With just weeks left for the elections, the Congress is close to a no-return position on the seat-share deal, which is another reason why the party seems to be agreeing to a secondary position in state-level alliances.
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