TMC is only force that can fight BJP: Mamata

Prospects of the INDIA grouping of opposition parties reaching an agreement on seat sharing in West Bengal dimmed further on Friday with chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee asking whether the Congress could win 40 seats at the national level, and seeming to refer to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a migratory bird. While the Congress continued to maintain that it will work out a deal with the TMC, the CPI(M), also part of the bloc and a traditional rival of the latter, claimed Banerjee had already struck a deal with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Coming just around a week after the exit of Bihar chief minister and his Janata Dal (United) from the INDIA grouping, Banerjee's comments are especially significant.

On Friday, addressing supporters in Kolkata at a sit-in demonstration held against suspension of central funds, Banerjee said: "We told Congress to fight 300 seats on its own and we would help it. We said regional parties should contest the remaining 243 seats in areas where they are strong and Congress should not interfere in this. But that didn't happen." "I can say with conviction that if there is any force that can fight BJP it is Bengal. It is TMC. Only we can unite all regional parties. Congress, you cannot do it. We don't know if you can win even 40 of 300 seats. You have become so conceited," said Banerjee.

Just weeks ago, relations between the two parties seemed warmer with Banerjee even suggesting Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's name as a possible chairperson of the grouping. Since then, relations have nosedived, helped along by state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's continuing broadsides at Banerjee, and the Congress' Bharat Jodo Nyay yatra in West Bengal.

Banerjee seemed to challenge the Congress's role as the coalition's leading force although it is she who reportedly proposed the name of Kharge as chairperson of the coalition two weeks ago.