“I have Himmat...but they are not letting me fight”, Mamata Banerjee names none but CPIM but says it all for Congress & INDIA alliance

“I have courage and thus I have taken out the harmony rally…” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has hit out at her arch-rival the Left and also questioned if any other political party has dared to do the same like her, as she led a massive rally in Kolkata on Monday, minutes after Ram Mandir's inauguration in Ayodhya to promote the message of brotherhood and coexistence. She didn’t name Congress but hinted at non-cooperation and high-handedness that is ruining the prospects of the INDIA alliance to take on BJP in the impending Loksabha elections 2024.

“I have the himmat (courage) to fight the battle. But they are not letting me fight. I have taken out the rally today because I have himmat (courage). There are so many political parties, what courage have they shown? By visiting one temple is your job done? Do I have to listen to whatever they say? I went to Mandir, Masjid, Gurdwara and a Church,” Mamata Banerjee thundered during her speech, interestingly on a day when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra had attempted to visit Batadrava Than, the birthplace of Saint Srimanta Sankardeva at Nagaon in Assam. Rahul Gandhi was stopped from entering the temple by Assam police leading to protest demonstrations. This was Gandhi’s first such attempt to visit any place of worship since his ‘Manipur to Mumbai’ Yatra began coinciding with the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony on Monday.

In her first commentary on the INDIA alliance amidst growing speculations of chinks within the bloc, Mamata Banerjee has lamented she is often subjected to humiliation. She stressed the contentious seat-sharing issue and claimed that she wanted them (Congress) to fight in 300 seats and leave the remaining to regional players, whoever is strong in whichever region, once again reiterating her 1:1 fight formula.

“When I attend the meetings, I see CPIM trying to control the meeting. Against whom I have fought all my life, I will not take any advice from them. I am humiliated yet I suggested, let the regional party - whoever is strong, you let that party fight and in about 300 seats you fight alone. I told them I would support them there and wouldn’t contest in those seats. But you know what they say? They say we will do what we want. Remember one thing, if you help BJP then I won’t forgive you ever”, Trinamool Congress supremo added.

Mamata Banerjee has previously stated that a one-is-to-one formula will thwart vote fragmentation and may eventually benefit the BJP. But after the last INDIA alliance meeting in Delhi, differences started showing up. TMC had initially given a deadline of December 31, 2023, for seat-sharing talks to get over but that deadline was breached and seat-sharing remained inconclusive in Bengal. Last week TMC during an internal meeting had hinted that they will contest all 42 Loksabha seats in the state, meaning no alliance either with the Congress or the Left. Differences had emerged, as sources claimed, Congress had demanded at least 8 seats in Bengal while TMC had agreed to nothing more than 2 seats. TMC has even decided to field candidates in the Behrampore constituency, which is currently the seat of the Congress Leader in Loksabha, Adhir Ranjan Choudhury. That, if true, would also mean a complete breakdown of pre-poll talks for an alliance between Congress and TMC for the state of Bengal.

Mamata Banerjee during her ‘Harmony Yatra’ blew the bugle for elections 2024 and asked the people of Bengal to unite for what she called a battle where she will not “let go of an inch of space without a fight” no matter how tough the battle gets.​