Do not offend Mamata, says Sonia Gandhi to party workers

 

Positive talks with the TMC Congress on seat negotiation in the Lok Sabha polls may continue, but Mamata Banerjee cannot be fooled by any means. Sonia Gandhi herself explained this to the West Bengal Pradesh Congress on Friday in the midst of tension over the Rafah of the India Alliance seats. Her clear message, "Mamata can defeat the total BJP team, it is proven. Senior leaders of other parties are also acknowledging that the West Bengal Chief Minister is a popular face to prevent Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In four consecutive meetings, the members of the India alliance have all given considerable importance to the TMC leader. Therefore, in two or four out of forty-two seats in Bengal, we will make a deal with the TMC, that discussion can continue at the top level. But no one from our party will say such nonsense, so that Mamata will get upset with the Congress in the future.”

 

In fact, on the day that state president Adhir Chowdhury commented on the seat sharing with the TMC in Bengal, Sonia Gandhi gave a clear strict guideline to the state Congress. The Congress high command wants to decide to go with Mamata in the elections, especially considering that the orange camp will benefit if the anti-BJP votes are divided in alliance with the CPIM. Congress leaders in the capital are also trying to stay on good terms with Mamata and Abhishek, just like Sonia, in order to block the BJP and not divide the anti-BJP vote.

Sonia Gandhi also gave a clear message about the additional seats demanded by the West Bengal Pradesh Congress citing the organizational strength of the party. She said, "Despite the alliance with CPIM, Congress got two traditional seats in the last Lok Sabha elections. On the contrary, the voting rate has reached the bottom. And the result of the party in the assembly is zero. In panchayat and municipal polls, the party's representation has to be seen with a monitor.

On behalf of a section of the state Congress, Sonia's comments in the close circles also severely criticized the proposal of the provincial leaders to fight alone in the Lok Sabha elections in Bengal. According to the internal reports, Baharampur and Maldah South seats will be confirmed only if there is an alliance with TMC. Actually, our main target is to reduce Modi's number of seats as much as possible. In that case Mamata is very much needed in the India alliance. And the results of the polls one after another say that there is no alternative to Mamata in West Bengal. Because, she defeated the total team of Modi-Shah in 2021 and sent back to Delhi.

Notably, the high command was shocked by the report that Rahul had in his hand when he sat for a discussion with the state Congress leaders recently. Because, all the zilla parishads and all municipalities except one of the state are now in the possession of Trinamool Congress. No rally or meeting for the Congress in Calcutta is attended by more than a hundred. After losing the three state polls, Sonia-Rahul's desperation to forge alliances with regional powerhouses in various states is evident as India has already started talks with alliance partners. According to the sources, Rahul himself has already spoken to Mamata Banerjee about seat negotiation in Bengal.