Rejecting claims of internal dispute inside the INDIA bloc, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is “very much part of the INDIA alliance”. He also mentioned Nitish Kumar and his exit from the bloc and said that the whole INDIA bloc would fight in Bihar.
He also added that the member parties are carrying forward their negotiations for the seat-sharing arrangement. He termed disagreements among the parties over seat-sharing as “normal”.
Earlier, the West Bengal Chief Minister had expressed her displeasure over the Congress party’s lack of communication on seat-sharing negotiations. She also claimed that the party leadership didn’t inform her about the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entering into West Bengal.
Later, she declared that her party TMC won’t fight the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Congress in West Bengal. She also accused the grand old party of joining hands with the CPI (M) to assist the BJP in the elections.
“I have not spoken to anyone in the Congress (on seat-sharing), let the Congress fight 300 seats on its own. The regional parties are together and can contest the rest. However, we will not tolerate any interference by them (Congress),” said Mamata Banerjee.
The INDIA bloc suffered another setback after Nitish Kumar dumped Mahagathbandhan and joined hands with the BJP-led NDA to form a new government in Bihar. Commenting on Nitish’s exit, Gandhi said, “You can guess what would have been the reasons for his leaving.”
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Published: 06 Feb 2024, 04:30 PM IST
