West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday slammed the Congress for outrightly dismissing the seat-sharing proposal sent by the TMC and vowed to fight alone in the Lok Sabha elections.
“We have not talked to anyone about it (seat sharing). However, my party had sent a proposal to them (Congress), which was dismissed right away. Therefore, we decided to go alone in Bengal (for the polls). No talks on the matter have been done so far,” the West Bengal chief minister said.
Banerjee further said that the Congress can contest 300 seats but she will not tolerate any interference by the grand old party in areas where regional parties are strong.
“Let the Congress fight 300 seats on its own. The regional parties are together and can contest the rest. However, we will not tolerate any interference by them (Congress),” she added.
Banerjee also expressed her disappointment over not being informed about Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra entering West Bengal.
“They (Congress) are doing a rally (in Bengal), but they did not inform me. I am a part of the INDIA alliance; as a courtesy, they should have informed me that ‘Didi, I am coming to your state’,” she said.
The Congress and TMC have been indulging in a bitter war of words over seat-sharing in West Bengal with Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury calling Banerjee an opportunist.
“This time the elections will not be fought at the mercy of Mamata Banerjee. Congress defeated the BJP and TMC on the two seats that Mamata Banerjee is leaving. Congress party knows how to contest in the elections…,” Chowdhury said.