'No Grasp in Own Backyard...': Abhishek Banerjee's Dig at Congress on Seat-sharing 'Aspirations' in Bengal

Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee took a dig over seat-sharing at its INDIA bloc ally Congress, after the results of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council elections in Assam were declared. Both parties contested the election for the first time, and the TMC got 12.40 percent of the votes whereas the Congress got 8.80 percent of the vote.

“Despite contesting NCHAC elections for the first time @AITC4Assam managed a higher vote share than INC – the primary opposition. One might say their seat share aspirations in Bengal are akin to aiming for the stars when they couldn’t quite grasp the ground in their own backyard!” Abhishek tweeted late on Saturday (January 13).

Party insiders said the TMC MP, through this tweet, made it clear that the Congress demanding more than five seats in West Bengal is not going to be entertained by the TMC. Not only that, the party has clearly showed that the Congress is weak in Assam and behind the TMC.

The TMC was absent from the virtual meeting of the INDIA bloc held on Saturday. On the same day, state Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury also hit the streets protesting against the Mamata Banerjee-led government. In such a situation, how long the TMC and Congress will go together in West Bengal is a big question. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has always said whoever is a strong force in the INDIA bloc should directly fight the BJP and, in Bengal, TMC insiders said they were capable of putting up that fight on their own terms.

The West Bengal Congress also held an internal meeting on Saturday, and sources said the leaders once again stressed on how going with the TMC will be committing a political blunder. Sources, moreover, said Choudhury wants senior leader Rahul Gandhi to speak against the TMC when his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra stops over in Bengal.

Mamata had given a deadline of December 31 for taking a final call on seat distribution, but the vital matter has slipped well into January with no decision in place. The alliance in West Bengal, however, was always to be questioned as historically, too, there is no love lost between the TMC and Congress.