Congress response to TMC MP’s “no alliance” in West Bengal comment is now being discussed

Following West Bengal MP Derek O’Brien of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) saying “no alliance,” the Congress insisted on Saturday that negotiations for seat sharing with Mamata Banerjee’s party are still in progress.

Speaking to reporters, Congress national secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh played down the TMC MP’s comments and said that while there have been tense talks between the two parties, negotiations on a seat-sharing agreement are still in progress.

Conversations are in progress. For TMC, we are always here. Mamata Banerjee and the TMC have said that their first goal is to defeat the BJP in order to strengthen the INDIA Alliance.The two parties continue to have contentious conversations, but we respect Mamata Banerjee,” Ramesh said.

His comments were made the day after TMC MP Derek O’Brien, a close friend of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, maintained the party’s previous stance of running for all 42 seats in the state, despite rumors that the two Indian block parties were close to finalizing an alliance for the next Lok Sabha elections.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, said a few weeks ago that the TMC is vying for all 42 seats in Bengal. We are also contesting many seats in Assam and the Meghalayan Tura Lok Sabha seat. This stance has not changed,” he said on Friday.

This is happening against the background of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress of Uttar Pradesh just announcing their partnership.

It is also thought that the Congress, which makes up the majority of the opposition’s INDIA block, has forged an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, and Haryana.