- By Shivam Shandilya
- Sun, 25 Feb 2024 12:00 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Amid the continuous attempts by Congress to convince Trinamool Congress to keep the doors for seat-sharing negotiations open, it does not seem to be working. After Congress General Secretary in-charge of communication, Jairam Ramesh, told mediapersons in Delhi that the doors are still open for negotiations with the Trinamool Congress, the latter's national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien spoke on Saturday on exactly the opposite lines, reports news agency IANS.
According to O'Brien, TMC supremo and CM Mamata Banerjee have already made it clear that the party will contest all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, besides fielding candidates in some constituencies in Meghalaya and Assam. That stand remains intact, O'Brien said, according to news agency IANS.
Meanwhile, the question that is doing the rounds in the political circles of Bengal is why, despite repeated rejections from the Trinamool, Congress' central leadership is going soft towards West Bengal's ruling party, even going against the hard-core anti-Trianmool stand of the majority members of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC).
According to news agency IANS, political observers feel that this might be a tactical approach on the part of the Congress, which is to remain flexible with regard to seat-sharing negotiations with the Trinamool, despite the latter's repeated rejections.
"In my opinion, this soft stand of the Congress will continue till the time Trinamool announces candidates for all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, conforming the party's present stand. In that case, the Congress can claim that it cannot be blamed for the failure in seat-sharing talks," said a city-based political observer, as quoted by news agency IANS.
(With inputs from IANS)
