TMC's Mamata Banerjee unlikely to attend INDIA bloc meet on June 1: Sources

Ahead of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting on June 1, a party source on Monday informed that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegates would likely miss the meeting, as the date coincides with the last phase of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

Elaborating on the details, the source claimed that TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, and other top leaders will be voting on the day and hence will not join the meeting. The source further added that the TMC has already conveyed the same to the organizers.

Significantly, the development comes after the top leaders of the opposition’s INDIA bloc are set to hold a meeting in the national capital on June 1 to deliberate on further strategy and also assess the performance of the alliance in the seats they contested together. 

"On June 1, a meeting of leaders of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will be held in Delhi, in which further strategy and elections will be assessed," the sources



mentioned. 

Further, it is pertinent to note that despite TMC going separately in contesting all the Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, its party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have continued to support the opposition bloc on the national level. Earlier, addressing a public meeting, the West Bengal CM said that while the TMC is not in alliance with the CPI (M) and the Congress in the state, it is in alliance with the parties at the national level. 

She said, "At all levels of India, some people have misunderstood my statement yesterday. I am very much part of the India Alliance. The India Alliance was my brainchild. We are together at the national level and will continue to be together."

However, speaking further, Banerjee also clarified the decision behind not going in alliance with Congress and CPI (M) in the state. She said, "Do not count on the CPI (M) and the Congress in Bengal. They are not with us; they are with the BJP here. I am talking about that (the India bloc) in Delhi."