West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee Contemplates Skipping Congress-Held Seats In Muslim-Majority Areas For INDI Alliance

Mamata Banerjee, the chairperson of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), is contemplating a strategy for seat sharing within the INDI Alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Senior Trinamool leaders have suggested that the party might abstain from fielding candidates in the two seats currently held by Congress in Bengal.

As Banerjee prepares to attend an opposition meeting in Delhi on 19 December, she chose not to comment on the specifics of seat sharing, indicating that details would be disclosed following the upcoming meeting.

The Berhampore seat, held by Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury since 1999, is located in Murshidabad district, boasting Bengal's highest Muslim population of 66.28 per cent, as per the 2011 census.

In the adjacent Malda district, Congress MP Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury, representing Malda South since 2009, holds a seat in an area with Bengal's second-highest Muslim population of 51.27 per cent.

Historically, TMC fielded candidates in both seats, contributing to a gradual decline in Congress votes in the region.

According to a report from Hindustan Times, a senior TMC leader revealed, "Although the Congress and CPI(M) have already said the INDI Alliance model will not work out in Bengal because they are opposed to both TMC and BJP, Banerjee wants to convince the coalition leaders that BJP can be effectively countered only if the contests are bipolar. She has been saying since 2019 that 1:1 contest is the right formula.”

The TMC leader added, “from what we understood during a couple of internal party meetings, Banerjee may tell Sonia and Rahul Gandhi that TMC will break from the past by not contesting the Berhampore and Malda South seats. She may once again offer to support a Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha election since Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s tenure will end in April next year. He won from Bengal in 2018 with TMC’s support.”

Some TMC leaders believe Banerjee is strategising to prevent BJP from exploiting any split in Muslim community votes, perceived as TMC's vote bank.

The 2019 Lok Sabha results showed that a 17 per cent drop in Left votes directly benefited BJP, securing 18 of 42 seats with a 23 per cent rise in vote share.

Despite potential collaboration, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury asserted that Bengal Congress would not wait for Banerjee's olive branch, anticipating possible competition from Banerjee's nephew.

The final decision on seat sharing is expected to be made by Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, the party's national general secretary.