Mamata Banerjee Shares Seat Sharing Formula For 2024 Polls; Softens Stand On Congress

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has been a vocal critic of Congress especially after the grand old party lost many state elections to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the last few years.

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said Congress must give prominence to the regional parties in the areas where they are strong.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been meeting with opposition party leaders for around two years now, has softened her stands against Congress after the grand old party registered a thumping victory in Karnataka polls on its own. Addressing the media today, Banerjee said that Trinamool Congress will support Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but the grand old party will have to reciprocate the same. She said that Congress should let regional parties fight the states where they are strong.

Mamata Banerjee On Opposition Unity

Banerjee has been a vocal critic of Congress especially after the grand old party lost many state elections to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the last few years. This is the first time that the Bengal chief minister openly voiced her strategy for opposition unity. "I am not a magician and I am not at all an astrologer. I cannot say what will happen in future. I can tell you one thing that, wherever the regional party is strong, the BJP cannot fight there. Wherever people are very demoralised and frustrated, where there is anti-incumbency, like in Karnataka the verdict is against the BJP, so wherever the people have been antagonised, atrocities are happening, the economy has been ruined, the democratic right has been bulldozed, so in this situation, whoever is strong in that region, they should fight there together," said Banerjee.

Regional Parties Vs BJP In 2024

Banerjee said that the TMC should fight in West Bengal and just like this, AAP should fight Delhi and Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party should be given prominence in Uttar Pradesh. "In Bihar, Nitish Ji and Tejashwi are together and in some parts, Congress is also there. They should decide, I cannot decide their formula. Like in Tamil Nadu, they have friendships (Congress and DMK), and they should fight together. Regional parties should fight in states like Bihar, Odisha, Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab and other states," she said. 

Mamata Banerjee's Seat-Sharing Formula

The Bengal CM said that regional parties must be given priority in the areas where they are strong. Revealing the seat-sharing formula, Banerjee said that Congress should fight on around 200 seats while rest parliamentary seats should be given to regional parties. "Wherever the Congress is strong, their respective 200 (Lok Sabha) seats or whatever they have calculated, we will let them fight. We will give support. They have to support the other political parties also. If I am supporting them in Karnataka and they are fighting against me in Bengal, this should not be the policy. If you want to get good things, then you will have to sacrifice yourself also in some areas," said Banerjee. 

Mamata Banerjee said that Congress also has to back other parties to get support from them. Banerjee had earlier saluted the people of Karnataka after the BJP lost power there while avoiding mention of the grand old party with which TMC has had run-ins in the past.