In a big blow to the Congress-led INDIA bloc, both West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of TMC and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of AAP on Wednesday announced that they will go solo in their respective states, during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. So, they deferred of having poll alliance with Congress.
“I had no discussions with the Congress party. I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I am not concerned about what will be done in the country but we are a secular party and in Bengal, we will defeat BJP alone,” said the TMC chief Mamata Banarjee before leaving for Purba Bardhaman.
“I gave many proposals but they rejected them from the beginning. From then, we have decided to fight the elections in Bengal alone,” she added.
The AAP’s decision comes just hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took a similar stand and said her Trinamool Congress would go solo in the state.
“The Aam Aadmi Party has shortlisted 40 candidates for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. We are getting a survey done before finalising candidates,” Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said.
Mann’s remarks come at a time when both AAP and Congress are locked in talks over seat sharing in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Goa and Gujarat for the general elections. Both the parties, however, have entered into an alliance for the Chandigarh mayoral poll.
Mamata also alleged that she was not told about the West Bengal leg of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. “They didn’t bother to inform me that they will be coming to West Bengal as a matter of courtesy though I’m part of the INDIA bloc,” the TMC supremo said.
“We will decide on what to do at the all-India level. We are a secular party. We will do whatever we can do to defeat the BJP. We have said that they should fight in some states and the regional parties should be left to fight alone in other states. They should not interfere,” the Bengal CM added.
This comes after Congress Bengal chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury slammed Mamata, saying, “This time, the elctions will not be fought at the mercy of Mamata Banerjee. The Congress defeated the BJP and TMC in the two seats that Mamata is leaving. The Congress knows how to fight the polls. Mamata is an opportunist. She came to power in 2011 with the mercy of Congress,” the MP said.
