4 ways Mamata Banerjee has doubts about INDIA bloc – Firstpost

The majority of seats have already been contested in the Lok Sabha elections, with only three phases left before the results are announced on June 4. While half of the vote has already passed, political leaders are playing their cards carefully.

Among them is Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who probably has an inkling of the possible outcome of the result. Banerjee on Wednesday made a big announcement regarding her party’s next move in the ongoing elections, an announcement that created waves in political circles.

Last year, all major opposition political parties formed a grand alliance called the INDIA bloc. At first, the bloc looked promising, with leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and even Mamata Banerjee demonstrating the strength of a unity that had one key goal in mind: defeating the BJP and moving the country forward together.

As the days progressed towards the elections, fissures developed within the alliance. While other political parties have contributed to the rift within the INDI Alliance, the TMC has repeatedly found itself in the hot seat over its support for the bloc.

In her latest statement, Mamata Banerjee said TMC would support INDIA bloc from “outside”. However, this is not the first time that TMC has reversed course on its decision to support the grand alliance.

West Bengal, which has 42 constituencies, is conducting polls in all seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections with top leaders of the TMC, BJP, Congress and CPI(M) in the fray.

“Will support INDIA from outside”

“The BJP claims it will win 400 seats, but people say that won’t happen. The entire country has understood that the BJP is a party full of thieves. We (TMC) will support INDIA bloc from outside to form a government at the Centre. We will extend our support so that in (West) Bengal, our mothers and sisters never face any problem… and those working under the 100 Day Employment Scheme also do not face any problems. problems,” the West Bengal chief minister said on Wednesday.

Congress candidate from Behrampore, West Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who had once urged voters to vote better for the BJP than the TMC, said: “I don’t trust him. She left the alliance and ran away.

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In such cases, the Congress has invariably taken the brunt of the blows, being the largest national party in the alliance. Although the TMC and the mainstream party have been at odds for a long time in West Bengal, it was hoped that their coming together in the alliance would bring some calm.

“Don’t waste your vote in Congress”

Mamata Banerjee believes that voting for the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), both of which are part of the INDI Alliance, would ultimately benefit the BJP by splitting votes.

Clearing the air on her own comment on supporting the alliance, Banerjee said on Thursday: “A lot of people have misunderstood me. We will be in the INDIA block. I made the INDIA bloc,” urging voters not to vote for the Congress or the CPI(M).

In April, Banerjee made similar comments, claiming to have “created” the INDI Alliance. She also accused these parties of “associating themselves with the BJP”.

“There is no INDIA alliance in West Bengal. I played a key role in the formation of the INDIA opposition alliance. Even the name of the alliance was given by me. But here in West Bengal, the CPI(M) and Congress are working for the BJP,” the TMC leader said.

Although Banerjee has a decent rapport with Sonia Gandhi, the leader has been constantly attacked by senior Congress leaders in the state, including Chowdhury and Abdul Mannan, over TMC’s governance.

The numerous cases of corruption in the state during the TMC regime, including the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) scam, have become a focal point of this election season. The Congress and the CPI(M), the two main opposition parties in West Bengal, have been vocal in criticizing the Mamata Banerjee-led party for pushing the state’s development to an even lower level by committing crimes.

TMC fights alone

Earlier this year, Mamata Banerjee announced that her party would contest all 42 seats in West Bengal alone, one of the first signs of the party’s suppression of the INDI Alliance.

His reason? The Congress “rejected” all of Mamata’s seat-sharing proposals. “Whatever offer I made to them, they refused everything…Since then, we have decided to go to Bengal alone,” Banerjee said.

Responding to its claim, the Congress said, “The Indian National Congress has repeatedly declared its desire to enter into a respectable seat-sharing arrangement with the TMC in West Bengal. The Indian National Congress has always maintained that such an agreement should be finalized through negotiations and not through unilateral announcements.”

The apparent disagreement over seat sharing stems from Mamata’s previous battles with the Congress. The leader has accused the grand old party of “fighting against it every day” in the past. She wants the Congress to support regional parties as regional parties support it and nothing less.

“I support you, but you fight me every day. This should not be the policy. It’s for everyone. If you want to achieve good things, you also have to sacrifice in certain areas,” she had said earlier.

The Nyay Yatra “Congress”, a strategy to appease Muslims

When Rahul Gandhi launched his second pan-India rally, the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Mamata Banerjee said it was one of the many ways the Congress is trying to appease Muslims.

It even cast doubt on the Congress’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections. “I proposed that the Congress should contest 300 seats (across the country where the BJP is the main opposition), but they refused to consider it. Today, they have arrived in the state to stir up Muslim voters. I doubt they will get even 40 seats if they contest 300.”

The yatra was passing through West Bengal and for Banerjee, the countryside was a “mere photo opportunity” for the state’s “migratory birds”.