TMC may go on its own in next Lok Sabha polls

TMC, a key ally of the UPA government indicated that it may not go for an alliance with Congress in West Bengal in the next Lok Sabha elections.

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress, a key ally of the UPA government on Monday indicated that it may not go for an alliance with the Congress in West Bengal in the next Lok Sabha elections.

"We are planning to win all 42 seats (in West Bengal). We want to see that under Mamata Banerjee`s leadership 42 MPs remain in our command," TMC leader Sudeep Bandopadhaya told reporters after an all-party meeting here.

The next Lok Sabha elections are slated to be held in 2014.

Congress and TMC had fought the last Lok Sabha elections in 2009 together. The alliance between the two parties continued during the state assembly elections in 2010.

There was a thaw in Congress-TMC relations at the centre after West Bengal Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee decided taht her party will vote for UPA`s Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee.

However, the TMC`s relations with the Congress at the state level continued to remain strained with leaders of both parties often attacking each other.
To a question, Bandopadhaya said, "People are fond of selecting political personality with honesty, transparency, commitment and simplicity and Mamata Banerjee is certainly topping the list in Indian politics."

TMC is also supporting the second term for Hamid Ansari as Vice-President and some party MPs participated the lunch hosted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
PTI

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