Mamata Banerjee Rejects Congress Reconciliation: Focuses on Solo Battle with BJP

The likelihood of a reconciliation between the Trinamul Congress and the Congress on seat sharing seems unlikely, as chief leader Mamata Banerjee reiterated her vow on Wednesday to take the BJP by storm in the general election in Bengal.

"So, how many do you want? Every 42? Drop every 42? Is it appropriate for the BJP to win every election before launching a terror, plunder, and murderous rule in Bengal? That is not going to happen with me. Speaking in Malda and then Behrampore, two towns known as Congress strongholds, she said, "I have the strength and the guts to take on the BJP on my own."

Even though Mamata has been blaming the Congress of sabotaging the INDIA alliance in the state for the last two weeks, her remarks on Wednesday gained importance since Rahul Gandhi has been silent on the matter.

Just a few hours after Mamata departed, Rahul arrived in Malda. He will be in Murshidabad on Thursday.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who reiterated that India's primary goal was to defeat the BJP and showered Mamata with praise once more, complemented Rahul's silence, demonstrating that the party establishment—at least the central one—remains keen on an electoral alliance with Trinamul.

Rahul never mentioned Mamata at Malda, but his speech hinted that he was still counting on her when he discussed Bengal's crucial role in the ideological struggle against the RSS.

Rahul continued by discussing the many forms of injustice under the saffron administration and emphasizing that his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was an initiative for socioeconomic justice without bias.

Mamata's politics are based on two primary tenets: the necessity for socio-economic justice and the fight against the RSS ideology.

Bengalis are renowned for having strong ideological inclinations. Rahul, who called the Bengali people the nation's "guiding light" and emphasized the need for "intellectual leadership" from the state that had produced the greatest number of Nobel laureates, said, "It's your responsibility to stand against and resist the (RSS) ideology of hatred."

Nothing is set in stone yet, according to Congress Communications Chief Ramesh, who has been praising Mamata and feeling quite optimistic about working out any alliance obstacles with her in recent days.

Any partnership should be based on agreement rather than unanimity. Making choices on your own is not a good idea. Three Indian parties are present in Bengal. We still believe that India would fight united in Bengal as well," the speaker said.

"Imagining India without her in it is unimaginable. We are inspired by her as a significant leader, Ramesh said.

However, Mamata did not experience the intended outcome from the Congress's conciliatory effort till Wednesday evening. The chief minister of Bengal has been vocal about her dissatisfaction with the excessive delay in finalizing the seat-sharing agreement and the way the state Congress unit, influenced by the CPM, has been targeting her. She had been excited about a united front against the BJP through the INDIA platform.

"We had a wonderful working relationship with the Congress; the CPM was the one that would break the rules. Mamata said in Behrampore, "The CPM is currently the biggest agent of the BJP," shortly after making a similar remark at Malda in which she impliedly called Rahul and the Congress "cuckoos" who come out during election seasons.

Mamata has previously accused the CPM of impeding her attempts to form an alliance with the Congress. She has often highlighted the unfavorable treatment she has received in India over the last several days, which the CPM has supported.

"Have they forgotten the tortures of the (Left regime)? The CPM is their leader (the Congress)," the woman questioned.

Mamata said, "I will never forgive the CPM, and I will never forgive those who support the CPM because they actually end up helping the BJP."

The CPM, lead by state secretary Md Salim, has consented to attend the event, despite her lack of readiness to comply with the Congress's repeated demands to join Rahul's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is presently going through Bengal, even if it is just for "10–15 minutes."

The Congress is facing difficulties concerning Bengal and India. They are close allies of the CPM and Trinamul in the group. In the state, their relationship with the always cordial CPM has been on and off, while they have been at loggerheads with Trinamul.

The Trinamul head reacted to the assertion made by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the state unit president of the Congress, the day after the latter said that she may not be where she is now if it weren't for Rahul's parents' approval.

"We are related to the Gandhis by blood." No political relationships exist. I was a member of Congress once. I was banished. I founded Trinamul," she said, alluding to her time as a Congress politician up to the establishment of her breakaway party in 1998 as well as the love and encouragement she had from Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi when she was a member of the Grand Old Party.

Rahul has been talking positively about his connection with Mamata even last week. When she suffered a brain injury in an accident on the road, his mother and sister, Priyanka Gandhi, sent her well-wishes.

The main obstacle to the Bengal settlement, according to sources in the Congress high command as well as Trinamul, is Chowdhury's vehement opposition to alliance talks. Deepa Dasmunshi, a member of the CWC and general secretary of the AICC, has unwavering support for Chowdhury's attitude.

"I had assumed that everyone would cooperate for the benefit of everyone. It was me that extended the offer. I replied that while you have no MLAs in Bengal, I may offer Malda two Lok Sabha seats. The chief minister was alluding to her offer on December 19 to Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul of the two seats their party had won in Bengal in 2019—Malda South and Behrampore—when she remarked, "They said, 'it won't do." She had requested that the Congress give up her party's seats in Meghalaya and Assam in return.

The Bengal section of the Congress feels that, regardless of coalition, it need to aim to run for at least nine of the 42 seats. The party believes it has a better chance in Murshidabad, Jangipur, Malda North, Raiganj, Darjeeling, Purulia, and Basirhat out of them, except Behrampore and Malda South.

According to Trinamul sources, if the Congress changed its methods and made a polite request, Mamata may be open to giving up as many as four seats.