Mamata Banerjee ‘very much’ part of INDIA bloc: Rahul Gandhi

GUMLA: Seeking to quash speculations on seat sharing among the constituents of the Opposition’s 27-party INDIA bloc, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is “very much” part of the Opposition bloc INDIA, and seat-sharing negotiations are underway among the members of the alliance.

Rahul Gandhi’s statement came during a press conference at Basiya in Gumla district of Jharkhand during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. “Mamata-ji is very much part of the INDIA alliance like most of the other members who are part of it,” he asserted. Negotiations are going on among the members of the alliance over seat sharing, and “that is normal”, he added.

Trinamool Congress party supremo Mamata Banerjee had said last week that her party will not contest the coming Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Congress in West Bengal. She had accused the Congress of joining hands with the CPI(M) to assist the ruling BJP in the general elections. Mamata Banerjee had also ruled out leaving any Lok Sabha seat for the Congress in the state, saying her party will contest all 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal. On Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ditching the alliance and rejoining the BJP-led NDA, the Congress leader said, “You can guess what would have been the reasons for his leaving. We will fight in Bihar as part of the INDIA alliance.”

The Bharat Jodo Nyay yatra started from Manipur on January 14 and is scheduled to cover nearly 6,700 km in 67 days, passing through 110 districts in 15 states. It is scheduled to culminate in Mumbai on March 20.