Mamata Banerjee vows to fight alone in Bengal: Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje says INDIA bloc should introspect

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 28 : Days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vowed to go solo in her state in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, leaving no space for talks on seat-sharing with INDIA bloc ally partners, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje on Saturday said that the opposition alliance should introspect why the Trinamool Congress supremo took this move.
"West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was in the INDIA alliance, why have they broken, what is the reason for it? They have to introspect," she said when asked about the apparent rift within the INDIA bloc after Congress alleged that their Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was denied permission in Mamata Banerjee-led Bengal.
West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday alleged that the administration of Siliguri denied the permission for a "small meeting" sought by the grand old party during the ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, led by his party MP Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress Leader in Lok Sabha said that the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has been at the receiving end of several challenges since the beginning whether it is in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states or Mamata Banerjee-led Bengal.
"Nyay yatra has been attacked with all sorts of tactics since the very beginning... In Manipur, Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to hold a public meeting where we wanted it to be held. We had to conduct this meeting on a private property outside of Manipur... In Assam, many police personnel attacked the yatra on orders from the government... In West Bengal, we requested to hold a meeting in Siliguri, but it was denied," Chowdhury said.
He said, "If they had done anything against the ruling party in Bengal, the government would have created obstacles in Yatra. But this Nyay Yatra is for everyone in the country, not to support or oppose anyone."
On the other hand, Trinamool Congress (TMC) state general secretary, Kunal Ghosh, lashed out at Chowdhury on Saturday, claiming that the latter was 'maligning' his party and was acting as a 'Bharatiya Janata Party agent'.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, soon after starting the Bengal leg of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, struck a conciliatory tone against the backdrop of senior member of the opposition's INDIA bloc Mamata Banerjee's vow to go solo in Lok Sabha polls in her state.
Rahul Gandhi in Cooch Behar said that the INDIA bloc will fight 'Anyay' together. The conciliatory tone was also sounded by Jairam Ramesh who reiterated that Mamata was an important part of the INDIA bloc.
"I have said that TMC is an important pillar of INDIA bloc which comprises 28 parties. Mamata Banerjee is an experienced and energetic leader of the country, a tall leader. We respect her...Everyone knows that she holds a special place and identity in the politics of our country. I am very confident that she too wants to defeat the BJP, we also want the same. We will fight together. We will make INDIA Alliance successful. That is our duty" Jairam Ramesh had said.
INDIA or 'Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance' is a group of opposition parties, including the Congress. The parties have come together to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and prevent it from winning a third straight term at the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.