KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress had formally communicated to Congress that it would fight all 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, a senior TMC MP said on Thursday. Trinamool also said the “three reasons” why seat-sharing talks had failed in Bengal were “(Pradesh Congress president) Adhir Chowdhury, Adhir Chowdhury and Adhir Chowdhury”.
TMC said it had waited for 210 days after INDIA bloc’s conclave in Patna in June last year for negotiations to materialise, but by not reining in Chowdhury’s belligerence against the party, Congress had “dug its own grave”.
The party’s Rajya Sabha leader, Derek O’Brien, said: “Even in Delhi (at the INDIA bloc meeting in December), we had urged Congress to wrap up seat-sharing talks by December 31. Even after that, we had shown patience, had been gracious and stuck to the grammar of alliance politics. But Chowdhury has been acrimonious. We have also noticed with interest that he rarely attacks BJP like he targets TMC. We have never seen him raising the issue of state’s dues. It seems all his negativity is against TMC, not BJP.”
The Trinamool leader said he refused to perceive this “lightly”. “Adhir Chowdhury is the Congress leader in Lok Sabha, a post equivalent with what Mallikarjun Kharge has in Rajya Sabha. He was allowed to attack TMC consistently, even after the Delhi meeting. What can we do, if they allowed him to dig their own grave (in Bengal)?” O’Brien said.
After CM Mamata Banerjee made clear on Wednesday that there would be no alliance in Bengal, a Trinamool leader said that Congress had made contact. “There is a designated person in both parties who communicate. Yes, they had been in touch,” the leader said. But the leader also said TMC had been unambiguous about the fact that it was the end of the road for seat-sharing talks, adding: “We waited 210 days, no further.”
The party also emphasised Trinamool would fight all 42 seats in Bengal, indicating that it would battle Chowdhury in Berhampore and also fight in Malda South constituency.
Asked repeatedly whether the alliance could be revived in Bengal, the leader said: “A 210-day period is enough in politics. It is for Congress to introspect. In 300 Lok Sabha seats across the country, they will have a one-on-one contest against BJP. We wish them well.” Referring to Congress’s overtures after Banerjee’s statement, a Trinamool leader said: “Its words, words, and more words. Politics is fought on the ground.”
TMC said it had waited for 210 days after INDIA bloc’s conclave in Patna in June last year for negotiations to materialise, but by not reining in Chowdhury’s belligerence against the party, Congress had “dug its own grave”.
The party’s Rajya Sabha leader, Derek O’Brien, said: “Even in Delhi (at the INDIA bloc meeting in December), we had urged Congress to wrap up seat-sharing talks by December 31. Even after that, we had shown patience, had been gracious and stuck to the grammar of alliance politics. But Chowdhury has been acrimonious. We have also noticed with interest that he rarely attacks BJP like he targets TMC. We have never seen him raising the issue of state’s dues. It seems all his negativity is against TMC, not BJP.”
The Trinamool leader said he refused to perceive this “lightly”. “Adhir Chowdhury is the Congress leader in Lok Sabha, a post equivalent with what Mallikarjun Kharge has in Rajya Sabha. He was allowed to attack TMC consistently, even after the Delhi meeting. What can we do, if they allowed him to dig their own grave (in Bengal)?” O’Brien said.
After CM Mamata Banerjee made clear on Wednesday that there would be no alliance in Bengal, a Trinamool leader said that Congress had made contact. “There is a designated person in both parties who communicate. Yes, they had been in touch,” the leader said. But the leader also said TMC had been unambiguous about the fact that it was the end of the road for seat-sharing talks, adding: “We waited 210 days, no further.”
The party also emphasised Trinamool would fight all 42 seats in Bengal, indicating that it would battle Chowdhury in Berhampore and also fight in Malda South constituency.
Asked repeatedly whether the alliance could be revived in Bengal, the leader said: “A 210-day period is enough in politics. It is for Congress to introspect. In 300 Lok Sabha seats across the country, they will have a one-on-one contest against BJP. We wish them well.” Referring to Congress’s overtures after Banerjee’s statement, a Trinamool leader said: “Its words, words, and more words. Politics is fought on the ground.”