Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, will not be present at the upcoming INDIA alliance coordination meeting on Wednesday. On that day, Ms. Banerjee has a prearranged program in north Bengal. She claimed that the Congress lost the most recent state elections because there were no seat-sharing agreements with other INDIA members.
“I am not aware about this (the meeting). That’s why I have already scheduled a programme in north Bengal. I have a seven-day programme there. Had I known, would I have kept this programme? I would have surely gone for it. But because we have no information, I am going for the north Bengal tour,” she said.
Plans for the Lok Sabha election next year are anticipated to be outlined at the meeting.
The Congress suffered a crushing defeat as the BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, strengthening its grip on the Hindi heartland.
The Congress found solace in Telangana, where it defeated the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the state assembly elections, which were widely considered a prelude to the general elections of the following year.
The allies of the INDIA bloc criticized the Congress for putting the Opposition alliance in a state of confusion while it concentrated on the state elections, blaming the party for not fighting the elections together.
“Congress has won Telangana. They would have won Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Some votes were cut by INDIA parties. This is the truth. We had said suggested a seat-sharing arrangement. They lost because of division of votes,” Ms Banerjee said in an address to the West Bengal Assembly.
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