In a signal that relations between the Trinamool Congress and the INDIA bloc are improving after pre-election potshots, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will likely campaign for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Wayanad.
Priyanka Gandhi is making her foray into electoral politics from the Kerala seat her brother, Rahul Gandhi, won earlier this month. Rahul Gandhi won the Lok Sabha polls from Rae Bareli and Wayanad — both by margins of over three lakh votes. He has retained the Uttar Pradesh constituency.
Mamata Banerjee and the Congress didn’t contest the West Bengal Lok Sabha polls in alliance as they fell out due to disagreement over seat distribution. However, the two parties remain allies on the national level under the INDIA bloc umbrella.
In December, Banerjee had suggested that Priyanka Gandhi must contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi, reported NDTV, citing sources.
This information has not been independently verified by HT.
The relations between the TMC and the Congress soured after the latter’s Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury made public statements targeting Mamata Banerjee.
The TMC later blamed Chowdhury for its decision to contest the Lok Sabha polls alone in West Bengal.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury lost the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency to TMC’s Yusuf Pathan. He had won the seat five times in a row.
Per the channel, his loss has acted as a catalyst for the growing bonhomie between the two parties.
The Trinamool Congress won 29 out of West Bengal’s 42 constituencies. It had won 22 seats in the 2019 general elections.
The INDIA bloc lost the Lok Sabha elections but managed to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party from crossing the majority mark.
The BJP won 240 Lok Sabha seats – 32 short of the majority mark. The party formed a government in alliance with the Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (United) and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.
BJP leader Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India for the third term in a row. However, for the first time in his career, he is running a coalition government.
