Will collectively find solution to seat-sharing impasse with TMC: Jairam Ramesh

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said the party is hopeful of finding a solution to the seat-sharing impasse with the TMC, a day after its supremo Mamata Banerjee made a surprise announcement of going solo in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.Ramesh, while speaking to reporters at the Bagdogra airport here, maintained that the Congress cannot think of an INDIA bloc without Banerjee, as she is indispensable in the fight against the BJP in the country.If we want to defeat the BJP in Bengal and India, Mamata Banerjee is very much needed.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said the party is hopeful of finding a solution to the seat-sharing impasse with the TMC, a day after its supremo Mamata Banerjee made a surprise announcement of going solo in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.

Ramesh, while speaking to reporters at the Bagdogra airport here, maintained that the Congress cannot think of an INDIA bloc without Banerjee, as she is indispensable in the fight against the BJP in the country.

''If we want to defeat the BJP in Bengal and India, Mamata Banerjee is very much needed. Our leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge have immense respect for Mamata ji,'' he said.

Highlighting the chief minister's significance as one of the ''important pillars of the INDIA alliance,'' the Congress general secretary said, ''No one can imagine the grouping without Mamata Banerjee and the TMC''.

Speaking about the TMC chief's decision to fight alone in West Bengal, Ramesh said the Congress is keen to tide over the seat-sharing stalemate.

''I don't want to make any running commentary on seat-sharing, but we want this impasse to end and we will find a solution'', he said.

Ramesh's remarks come a day after Banerjee's decision to go solo in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal caused ripples in the opposition bloc.

The senior Congress leader said the party has invited Banerjee to participate in the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', which entered Bengal on Thursday morning.

''We had twice sent invites to Mamata ji to join the yatra. All of us want her to be part of the yatra because our aim is the same, to fight against the injustice that is prevailing in the country'', he said.

Reacting to Ramesh's remark, the TMC wondered why the Congress high command was silent when state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury regularly hurled insults at Mamata Banerjee.

''They are now in damage control mode. But first, they must clarify why they were silent when Adhir Chowdhury on a regular basis hurled insults at the TMC. Mamata Banerjee had made few proposals about the INDIA alliance, but none of them were accepted'', TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

Ghosh conceded that the INDIA alliance was very much needed to defeat the BJP in the country, but said, ''The Congress did not follow the principles of alliance in the state''.

''We have never badmouthed the Congress leadership and waited for similar gestures from Congress. But they had other plans'', he said.

According to sources, the TMC's offer of two seats to the grand old party based on its 2019 Lok Sabha election performance, triggered tension among the leaders, as the arrangement was deemed insufficient.

The CPI (M)-led Left Front, Congress, and the TMC are part of the 28-party INDIA bloc.

However, in Bengal, the CPI (M) and the Congress aligned to fight against the TMC and the BJP in the state.

A vocal TMC critic, Chowdhury has maintained that the Congress will not ''beg'' for seats from Bengal's ruling party.

In the 2019 elections, the TMC secured 22 seats, Congress won two, and the BJP bagged 18 seats in the state.

The Trinamool Congress had abstained from a recent INDIA bloc virtual meeting and emphasised the necessity for the Congress to recognise its limitations in Bengal, and permit the TMC to spearhead the state's political battle.

TMC had previously allied with the Congress in the 2001 assembly polls, the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, and the 2011 assembly polls, leading to the ousting of the CPI (M)-led Left Front government of 34 years.