West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the TMC would go into 2024 general elections alone.
She said, "In the 2024 elections, the TMC will go it alone. We will fight with people's support. I believe those who want to defeat the BJP will certainly vote for the TMC."
Mamata's declaration comes at a time when Opposition parties are trying to cobble together a united front against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming 2024 general elections.
Currently, TMC has 23 MPs in Lok Sabha and is the third-largest Opposition party after Congress (52) and DMK (24).
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Just on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu CM and DMK chief MK Stalin dismissed the idea of a Third Front and asked the Opposition parties to unite behind Congress. Stalin's comment comes at a time when a number of parties have indicated that they are interested in an Opposition coalition minus Congress.
Parties such as TMC and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have frequently exchanged barbs with Congress.
Mamata on Thursday said that the Congress and BJP were in an alliance against the TMC. She described the victory of the Congress at Sagardighi by-elections as "immoral", alleging that the Congress and CPI(M) had entered into an understanding with the BJP to defeat TMC.
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For the Sagardighi loss, I do not blame anyone. Sometimes, in a democracy, developments may usually be positive or negative. But, there is an immoral alliance, which we strongly condemn. The BJP transferred its votes to the Congress," Banerjee told reporters here.
She said, "(In Sagardighi), everyone played the communal card. The BJP, of course, played the communal card. The Congress, CPI(M), however, turned out to be bigger players in this regard."
Stalin on Wednesday, who leads the second-largest party DMK in Lok Sabha, said arguments put forth by "some" favouring a non-Congress front should be rejected and a post-poll alliance for the Parliamentary election is not practical.
He said, "Rather than who should form the government, the 2024 LS election is about who must not capture power...If national politics is decided based on State-based political differences, the loss is for us...If we (the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance) have won all elections in TN during the past four years, the reason is unity."
(With PTI inputs)
