Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien has affirmed that his party will contest all seats in West Bengal, along with a few seats in Assam and the Tura Lok Sabha seat in Meghalaya.
"A few weeks ago, the TMC Chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that TMC is fighting all the 42 seats in Bengal. We are also in the fray in a few seats in Assam and the Tura Lok Sabha seat in Meghalaya. There is no change in this position," TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien said on Friday.
Previously, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee severed ties with the Congress, asserting that the party would independently contest in West Bengal during the Lok Sabha polls, dealing a significant blow to the opposition INDIA bloc.
"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 alone defeat the BJP," the TMC supremo said.
Following TMC's stance, the Aam Aadmi Party also declared its intention to contest solo in Punjab.
Meanwhile, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party announced a seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Besides its traditional strongholds of Rae Bareli and Amethi, the Congress will also vie for Varanasi, Ghaziabad, and Kanpur.
The formal announcement of the alliance between the two parties in the India bloc was made at a joint press conference, with Congress contesting 17 seats and the Samajwadi Party the remaining 63 seats in the crucial state.
The success of this seat-sharing pact is a boon for the Congress, which has encountered difficulties in negotiating seat-sharing with Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.
