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New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on Tuesday dismissed speculations of Trinamool Congress projecting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the “face” of the India block and said the alliance is solid and united.
Trinamool has repeatedly argued that Mamata Banerjee should lead the opposition alliance against the BJP-led NDA, claiming that the Congress has been unable to effectively challenge the ruling party at the national level. The party says that the alliance under the leadership of Mamata will give strong results.
Responding to these claims, Tiwari told IANS, “Trinamool is with India Bloc. Our alliance is very strong. I have not heard who said what, but Trinamool and all the parties of India Bloc are united and standing strong.”
His comment has come in view of the disappointing performance of Congress in Bihar elections.
Despite an extensive campaign led by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders, the party managed to win only six seats this time.
Its ally RJD also suffered a major setback and won only 25 seats, down from 75 seats in the last election. The NDA won the state with 202 seats in the 243-member assembly.
Congress’s repeated electoral failures have led to demands for a change in leadership within some sections of the India block, with some parties arguing that the alliance should rethink its strategy.
Tiwari also commented on the special in-depth review being conducted by the Election Commission in several states and said that Congress strongly opposes this exercise.
He said, “Today Congress legislature party leaders, presidents of state Congress committees, in-charges and members of our top leadership will discuss. This is an attempt to make a strategy on how the Election Commission and BJP together are stealing the democratic right to vote and committing voter fraud. We will prepare our strategy against it.”
–IANS
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