NEW DELHI: Even after Mamata Banerjee making it clear that her party will not have any deal with the Congress in Lok Sabha elections, the Congress said that its doors are open for an alliance till the withdrawal of nominations and maintained that any agreement has to be finalised through negotiations.
Soon after TMC announced candidates for all 42 seats in the state, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Our doors are always open and an alliance can happen anytime before withdrawal".
The talks between Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit a roadblock last month after Banerjee refused to part with more than two Lok Sabha seats for Congress in the state. Though the Congress tried to revive the talks by scaling down its demand to six seats from the earlier demand of 10, the TMC was adamant on contesting solo in the state. The TMC’s main grouse was West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s continuous attacks on Mamata and the party.
The Congress further said it always maintained that it wanted to have a respectable seat-sharing agreement with the TMC in West Bengal.
"The Indian National Congress has always maintained that such an agreement has to be finalised through negotiations and not by unilateral announcements. The Indian National Congress has always wanted the INDIA group to fight the BJP together," said AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh.
"As far as we are concerned, we want to strengthen the INDIA bloc in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee repeatedly said she is with the alliance and she wants to defeat the BJP in West Bengal. But now they have announced all the names. I don't know what pressure they had. Let's see what happens," said Ramesh. So far, the Congress has stitched up alliances with Samajwadi Party (SP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In Jammu and Kashmir, talks are in progress with Congress and its INDIA bloc allies.