The Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has once again revived its seat-sharing talks with the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha 2024 elections, sources said.
This comes after the Congress party and Samajwadi Party (SP) finally agreed on a seat-sharing arrangement as part of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier decided not to be a part of the INDIA bloc in her state. Now, sources said, that her party’s talks with the Congress party over a possible seat-sharing formula have revived. While the TMC is willing to concede two-five seats to the Congress in West Bengal, it wants Congress to concede two seats in Assam and one seat in Meghalaya.
Assam sends 14 and Meghalaya one member to Lok Sabha, respectively.
An agreement in West Bengal would lift the morale of the beleaguered Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), especially after the exit of JD-U.
Of the 42 seats in West Bengal, the TMC won 22 and the BJP bagged 18 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The Congress won the remaining two seats.
Sources said TMC might concede Behrampur, Malda South, Malda North, Raiganj and Darjeeling to the Congress in West Bengal. In return, the TMC is adamant on its demand of contesting the Tura Lok Sabha seat in Meghalaya, they said. The TMC bagged secured 28 percent of the votes, while the Congress got only nine percent votes in the Tura seat in 2019.
Elsewhere too, the alliance talks are on. In Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party has agreed to contest four Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress will field its candidates in three seats, as per the agreed seat-sharing formula, according to sources.
The AAP will contest South Delhi, New Delhi, West Delhi and Northwest Delhi seats while the Congress will field candidates on East, Northeast Delhi and Chandni Chowk seats, as per the agreement. While a formal announcement is awaited, the BJP had won all seven seats in both the 2014 and 2019 general elections.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), an amalgamation of leading opposition parties came up last year to fight together in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The inaugural meeting of the Opposition coalition was held in Patna, Bihar on June 23.
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Published: 23 Feb 2024, 09:42 AM IST