Kolkata: Lok Sabha elections are to be held next year. Amidst the discussions of the third front, Mamta Banerjee's party Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party have formed a new front. The special thing is that Congress will not be given entry in this. At the same time, Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik will be associated with this front.
UP has the maximum number of 80 Lok Sabha seats, whereas West Bengal has 42 seats.
Amid widening differences with the Congress, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Friday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. After this, Akhilesh said that SP will stand firmly with TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee to defeat the saffron camp.
Why TMC and SP are so averse to joining hands with main opposition party Congress. It is not difficult to understand this.
Congress had accused TMC of helping BJP during campaign in Meghalaya
A war of words had begun between the Congress and the TMC during the campaign in the Meghalaya Assembly polls where the Congress accused the TMC of helping the BJP. The Congress says that it will lead the Opposition alliance of like-minded parties against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. But some of the Opposition parties are not happy about this.
Sources in the TMC said Mamata, during her meeting with Yadav, expressed her dissatisfaction over the Congress criticizing her party for contesting the Meghalaya elections and made it clear that she would not join the Congress-led alliance.
Akhilesh had supported the TMC during Bengal Assembly elections
Akhilesh Yadav had supported the TMC during the high-octane Bengal Assembly elections. Mamata reciprocated when she campaigned for SP during the 2022 election.
Mamata called a meeting on Friday where the party's MPs, MLAs and leaders were present. TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay said the Congress is trying to be the 'big boss' of opposition parties and is not giving due respect to the regional parties.
According to Bandopadhyay, BJP will be benefited if Rahul Gandhi is portrayed as the face of the Opposition alliance.
Bandopadhyay said, "We are not talking about a third front right now but the TMC will discharge its responsibilities as the largest opposition party in India. We are in a position to oppose the BJP with other regional parties in the coming days."
He said the Congress has already joined hands with the CPI(M) in Bengal and in the coming days it will follow the same path as the BJP.
Mamata had said TMC would not join anti-BJP alliance with Congress
Earlier, Mamata had made it clear after her party's defeat in Murshidabad's Sagardighi by-election that the TMC would not join the anti-BJP alliance with the Congress. She said TMC can fight against the BJP alone.
Yadav, Mamata have hinted at joining hands with leaders like KCR, Kejriwal
Both Yadav and Mamata have maintained their distance from the idea of a Congress-led alliance against the BJP and at different points of time, they have floated the idea of a non-BJP, non-Congress platform with leaders such as Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal.
On several occasions, Mamata and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who is the TMC's national general secretary, alleged that Congress MLAs had joined the BJP after winning elections and the grand old party has no right to lead the opposition alliance against the BJP.
Mamata will meet Patnaik
Mamata Banerjee will also meet Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik on March 23 on the same issue.
Sudip Bandyopadhyay said: “Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will meet Naveen Patnaik on March 23. We will discuss this (plan to keep equidistance from BJP and Congress) with other Opposition parties. We are not saying it is a third front, but regional parties have the strength to take on the BJP."
Talking to the media after meeting with Mamata, Akhilesh said that we are with Mamata Didi in Bengal. We want to maintain equal distance from both BJP and Congress. He said that those who get 'BJP vaccine', they do not worry about CBI, ED or IT. Samajwadi Party is ready to make any sacrifice to protect the Constitution. If we can defeat BJP in UP, then BJP can be defeated all over the country.
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