The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), led by Mamata Banerjee, has reinitiated discussions with the Congress for seat-sharing in the upcoming Lok Sabha 2024 elections, sources revealed.
This development follows the recent agreement between the Congress party and the Samajwadi Party (SP) on seat-sharing within the INDIA bloc for Uttar Pradesh. Despite Mamata Banerjee’s initial decision to stay out of the INDIA bloc in West Bengal, sources suggest that talks with the Congress for a potential seat-sharing formula have been revived.
While the TMC is willing to allocate two to five seats to the Congress in West Bengal, it seeks concessions from the Congress for two seats in Assam and one seat in Meghalaya. Assam contributes 14 seats, and Meghalaya adds one seat to the Lok Sabha.
A successful agreement in West Bengal would significantly boost the morale of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), especially following the departure of JD-U. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, out of the 42 seats in West Bengal, TMC secured 22, BJP won 18, and the Congress claimed the remaining two seats.
Sources suggest that in West Bengal, the TMC may consider conceding seats like Behrampur, Malda South, Malda North, Raiganj, and Darjeeling to the Congress. In return, the TMC is insistent on contesting the Tura Lok Sabha seat in Meghalaya. In the 2019 elections, TMC secured 28 percent of votes in Tura, while the Congress received only nine percent.
Moreover, alliance talks are progressing in other regions as well. In Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party, led by Arvind Kejriwal, has reportedly agreed to contest four Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress will field candidates in three seats, as per the agreed seat-sharing formula. Although a formal announcement is awaited, the BJP had previously won all seven seats in both the 2014 and 2019 general elections.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), formed last year as a coalition of major opposition parties, aims to collectively contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The inaugural meeting of the Opposition coalition took place in Patna, Bihar, on June 23.
