New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) The seat-sharing arrangement in West Bengal among the opposition INDIA bloc members Trinamool Congress, the Left and the Congress will be complex, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Wednesday and expressed hope that any difference will be resolved soon.
Bharadwaj’s remarks come after West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee announced that her party decided to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls alone in the state.
The AAP is part of the 28-party INDIA bloc along with the Congress, TMC and the CPI(M)-led Left Front. According to Bharadwaj, the AAP is also discussing the seat-share issue with the Congress for five states.
Talking to PTI Video about Banerjee’s announcement, Bharadwaj said, “Mamata Banerjee’s TMC is the largest party in West Bengal and the ruling party. The Left and the Congress fight elections against it.” “It is obvious that since the three paries are in the INDIA bloc, seat sharing will be complex. I am sure this will be resolved soon. The INDIA bloc will fight the elections together,” he added.
Banerjee said on Wednesday that her party will have no relationship with the Congress in the state.
“I had given them (Congress) a proposal (on seat sharing) but they refused it at the outset. Our party has now decided to go it alone in Bengal,” she said.
The chief minister also asserted that she has not spoken to anyone in the Congress on the issue.
Sources said the TMC’s offer of two seats to the Congress, based on its 2019 Lok Sabha elections performance, triggered tension between the two parties as the arrangement was deemed insufficient.
The AAP is also involved in seat-sharing talks with the Congress in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Goa and Gujarat.
Bharadwaj said the talks between the two parties have been positive so far.
“The inputs from some state units (of the Congress) are awaited. As soon as they come, a meeting will be held,” he said.
There have been two meetings between the the Congress and the AAP over the seat-sharing issue so far. PTI SLB SLB SZM
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