The Trinamul Congress on Friday unilaterally announced the names of candidates for 228 constituencies after a fortnight-long tug-of-war over seat-sharing for the West Bengal Assembly polls, leaving 64 seats for the Congress and two for its ally, SUCI.
Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee made it clear she was ready to go it alone if the Congress did not agree. “We are leaving 64 seats for the Congress. We will be happy if the Congress fields its candidates in these seats. Since I have not been officially informed that the doors of an alliance have been closed I will wait till Monday. My list of candidates for these 64 seats is also ready. If they do not accept our offer then we will announce the names of our candidates for these seats too on Monday,” she added.
Talking to reporters in New Delhi, AICC general secretary and party media department chairman Janardhan Dwivedi said his party had sought more time to firm up the seat-sharing agreement with the Trinamul Congress. “We want an alliance with the Trinamul in Bengal but further discussion is required... and for that more time is required,” Mr Dwivedi said. He added that there were different categories of seats. “Some seats are good, some are not good. Some constituencies are considered very good or not good, like that. So, actually, some more discussions are required.”
Ms Banerjee’s unilateral announcement left Congress leaders in Bengal dejected. She complained she had waited 18 days for the Congress to come to an understanding but the latter kept procrastinating.