Mamata asks party’s Murshidabad unit to aim for winning all seats in LS elections
Kolkata: With uncertainty looming over the seat-sharing talks with Congress in Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee held a meeting at her Kalighat residence on Friday instructing her party’s Murshidabad leadership to aim at winning all seats there. The party wrote on X: “Today, under the leadership of our Chairperson, Smt.@MamataOfficial, and the guidance of our Nat’l GS, Shri @abhishekaitc, a meeting was convened in Kalighat. District leaders from Murshidabad gathered to fortify our commitment to serving the people and standing united against @BJP4India’s zamindari.”
Murshidabad which was always known as the lair of Congress is now being eyed by the TMC which is aiming to win all 42 Parliamentary seats in Bengal. In Friday’s meeting, it is learnt that Murshidabad’s TMC MLA Humayun Kabir has mentioned that West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPSS) chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is a big factor in Berhampore. Mamata, sources said, refused to acknowledge Adhir as a challenge and has instead advised the district organisation to aim at winning all the seats.
The very fact that the TMC supremo is focusing on sweeping seats in Congress stronghold speaks much about her decision in entering into an alliance with Congress in Bengal, said party insiders. TMC recently criticised its INDIA bloc ally Congress for failing to win a single seat in the recently concluded Assam’s North Cachar Autonomous Hill District Council elections (NCHAC). Abhishek Banerjee had written on X: “Despite contesting NCHAC elections for the first time @AITC4Assam managed a higher vote share than INC – the primary opposition. One might say their seat share aspirations in Bengal are akin to aiming for the stars when they couldn’t quite grasp the ground in their own backyard!” It had come to light that the Congress sought about 10 seats in Bengal from the TMC which has refused to part with more than two seats which the Congress had won in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The seats under the radar of the state Congress in Bengal include Berhampore, Malda (South), Malda (North), Purulia, Raiganj, Murshidabad or Darjeeling. Out of these, Congress had won both Berhampore and Malda (South) in 2019 Parliamentary elections while TMC bagged Murshidabad. The rest were bagged by the BJP. Meanwhile, Mamata has warned Humayun Kabir against making errant comments in the media ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
