TMC announces candidates for all Lok Sabha seats in Bengal
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress declared candidates for all 42 parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal without consulting the Congress party.
The TMC’s decision comes as a snub to Congress, which said talks for seat sharing in the state were still ongoing for the 2024 general elections. While the TMC and Congress are members of the opposition alliance against the BJP, discord over seat distribution continues in Bengal.
Reacting to the announcement, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party had repeatedly desired a respectable agreement between the two. “Such an understanding has to be reached through negotiation, not unilateral declarations,” Ramesh stated.
He affirmed Congress’s view that all opposition forces must unite to challenge the BJP collectively. However, Banerjee has maintained that only her party can beat the saffron party in Bengal.
Discussions over allocating seats have broken down, prompting the TMC’s unilateral move today. As key members of the INDIA bloc, the two parties will have to resolve issues urgently to present a joint anti-BJP front in the state.
