Setback for INDIA bloc, Mamata Banerjee, Bhagwant Mann break ties with Congress for LS polls in Bengal, Punjab

New Delhi [India], January 24 (ANI): A day ahead of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra's scheduled to enter into West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as well as Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, said there will be no alliance with the grand old party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and that their parties TMC and AAP will go it alone in the respective states.
"I had no discussions with the Congress party. I have always said that in Bengal, we will fight alone. I am not concerned about what will be done in the country but we are a secular party and in Bengal, we will alone defeat BJP." the TMC supremo said.
In Chandigarh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said his party will not enter into an alliance with the Congress in the state, reiterating that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) will win all 13 seats at stake.
"In the 2024 Lok Sabha election...AAP will get 13 seats (in Punjab)," Mann said at a media briefing.
Soon after the West Bengal CM made the announcement, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said that Rahul Gandhi gave a very clear answer for this and I would like to repeat the same- there are a lot of talks done for seat sharing.
"I think Rahul Gandhi gave a very clear answer for this and I would like to repeat the same- there are a lot of talks done for seat sharing...But there is no question about the role of Mamata Banerjee in the INDIA bloc. She is a part of this alliance and we will contest this election together,' Supriya Shrinate said.
Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya said that TMC attended the INDIA meeting, and Mamata Banerjee gave so many proposals.
"When this Nyay Yatra started, Congres had invited all political parties...I would be happy if the TMC decided to join the Yatra...If they decide to fight alone that is their subject, but Congress has always said very clearly that we would like to have clear contact with all the political parties of the INDIA alliance...TMC attended the INDIA meeting, and she (Mamata Banerjee) gave so many proposals," Bhattacharya said.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Congress president and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that he have nothing to say regarding the alliance.
"I have nothing to say regarding the alliance. I am going to Cooch Behar to receive Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Yatra tomorrow. I do not have any info regarding the alliance. Ask them who made comments on the alliance," he added.
On INDIA alliance and recent statements of Mamata Banerjee and Bhagwant Mann, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said, "...In the end, all INDIA alliance partners will sit across the table and talk, and all matters will be sorted."
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) working president Supriya Sule said that there is no infighting in the alliance and all the parties of the bloc are in "frequent conversation".
Sule said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is 'didi' and is respected and loved by the members of the opposition alliance.
AAP MP and Punjab Co-incharge, Sandeep Pathak said that Punjab unit had been saying from the beginning that they are capable of contesting alone.
"This is not new. Punjab unit had been saying from the beginning that they are capable of contesting alone. If you look at the local unit of Congress, they too say that they don't want to forge an alliance. So, local units have their own aspirations. The final decision will be taken by the coordination committee, seat-sharing committee and the High Command. Let's wait for it. The sooner it is done, the better it is," he added.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was "fighting like a tigress", and her fight was important for her state.
"I have come to know from the media, but let me see what Mamata ji has said, Mamata ji is fighting like a tigress in Bengal, her fight in West Bengal is extremely important," Thackeray said.
Moreover, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders said that Mamata Banerjee has not surprised anyone by doing this today.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh said, "Why should Mamata Banerjee consider Rahul Gandhi as PM when she herself is the PM candidate? Why should she vote for Congress? Mamata Banerjee has not surprised anyone by doing this today."
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the INDIA bloc just needed an excuse. They had to do drama for 7-8 months and they did it. Everyone knew this...Ultimately, there will be no INDI.
"We had all been saying from day 1 that this is just photoshoot and nothing is going to come out of it. AAP declared today that they would contest alone. Mamata Banerjee also announced that the party will contest independently...Other parties are also going to same the same. Wait for it," he added.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the alliance of INDIA bloc is an arrogant alliance.
"This is not INDIA alliance, this is an arrogant alliance... On one side Ram Lalla's idol was being consecrated, on the other hand, stones were being used in Assam, this is their Bharat Jodo Yatra... The whole reality has come out in front of the public," Scindia said.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has taken a jibe at the INDIA bloc that is suffering over seat sharing among the regional parties for the Lok Sabha elections, calling it a 'fragmented' alliance.
Speaking to ANI after the AAP and the TMC declared to go solo in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and contest the elections alone in Punjab and West Bengal respectively, Puri said that the cementing of the INDIA bloc was never 'very strong'.
"They (Congress) went out on a Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and I think they're finding it very difficult to get Nyay even amongst the so-called INDIA partners. And I'm not surprised by the statement I heard from the Chief Minister of West Bengal or the chief minister of Punjab that they don't want to join up with their partners. So I think we are looking at a very fragmented INDIA alliance," he said.
The INDIA bloc is struggling to resolve key challenges including finalising seat-sharing arrangements most importantly deciding on a PM face while the BJP has started executing strategies it laid off in 2023 to secure victory in General elections.
Earlier in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA won 353 seats, the UPA stood at 91, and Others won 98. The voting was staggered in seven phases between April 11 and May 19, in which around 67 per cent of the nearly 900 million eligible people exercised their franchise to elect 542 members of the Lok Sabha.
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be held next year that is likely to be between the Modi government's NDA alliance and the INDIA bloc. (ANI)