Rahul confident of seat sharing with Trinamul in Bengal

Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi today discounted any fear of any adverse impact on the seat sharing issue of INDIA coalition partners, especially between his party and Trinamul Congress in West Bengal for the up coming parliamentary elections.

Mr Gandhi, while replying to news persons’ query in Assam, where his march as part of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered today, denied any adverse bearing on the proposed seat sharing issue with the West Bengal chief minister and Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee. Rahul Gandhi’s assertion came after comments were made by some members of the West Bengal Congress state unit members.

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He asserted: “Since we have a good relation between us, I did not think that any comments by someone from our party or for that matter someone from hers, would have any bearing on the proposed seat sharing issue, for which dialogues are being held between the two parties at the national level.”

Mr Gandhi’s today’s assertions assumed significance since both the state Congress and ruling Trinamul Congress in the state are at loggerheads on various issues particularly with the series of scams that the ruling party was steeped in recently and both parties maintaining pressure tactics ahead of seat sharing talks. Trinamul congress chief Mamata Banerjee had made it clear that her party was not ready to part the state congress with more than two seats, while Mr Chowdhury, state Congress chief, wanted at least 10 seats. Moreover, Mr Chowdhury’s tirade against Miss Banerjee also ruffled many feathers in the ruling party.

Her angst against Mr Chowdjury came to the fore, when she instructed her party members at Murshidabad at a recently-held party organisational meeting at Kalighat not to attach any importance to Chowdhury and go for the kill there. Similarly Mr Chowdhury too dared Miss Banerjee to defeat him at Berhampore.