Mamata Banerjee Urges Congress to Break Ties with Left Front for Alliance

Kolkata: Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged the Congress to ditch the Left Front before forging any alliance with her party for the Lok Sabha election in West Bengal. The chief minister, who recently ruled out any alliance with the Congress and denied having any seat-sharing talks with it, revealed this time that she had earlier offered that party two seats in Malda, with a promise to ensure its victory in both. The Congress, however, wanted “more”, to which Ms Banerjee said that she would not even leave a single seat of the 42 in the state. 

The Congress, which has one MP, Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury from Malda South, and another, Adhir Ranjan Choudhury from Berhampore in Murshidabad, has not yet reacted to her offer. The TMC chief, who has set her eyes on bagging Berhampore in the coming Lok Sabha polls, claimed at a rally in Malda on Wednesday: “I had told Congress that you do not have a single MLA here. So I will give you two parliamentary seats in



Malda. 

We also told them that we will ensure your victory in both.” 

Interestingly, one of the two seats in Malda North belongs to the TMC. Ms Banerjee recalled: “But Congress said: ‘No, we want more seats’. Then I said I will not give you a single seat. You first have to leave the company of the CPI(M), which is your leader.” Referring to the erstwhile Communist rule, she alleged: “The CPI(M) had once unleashed brutal atrocities on us. At Gazole, Chanchol Sheikh, his wife and their children were burnt to death. The CPI(M) physically attacked me also on several occasions in the past. I was mercilessly beaten up. I have not forgotten it.” 

Ms Banerjee added: “I am alive only because of the blessings of my well-wishers. I can never forgive the Left and the CPI(M). So those who are with the CPI(M) now can also be with the BJP. This happened here during the panchayat polls. I won't forgive them.”