Congress leader Jairam Ramesh dismissed any rift with Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the seat sharing issue ahead of the Lok Sabha election, asserting that talks were still going on. Mr. Ramesh also said that the focus of the INDIA bloc was on the upcoming Lok Sabha election and not the Assembly elections.
Responding to the remarks by Ms. Banerjee, who has expressed doubts that the Congress would not win even 40 seats in the Lok Sabha election, Mr. Ramesh said that the Congress was going ahead and taking together all the parties of the Indian National Inclusive, Developmental Alliance (INDIA).
“On June 23 last year, 18 political parties had gathered in Patna on the invitation of Nitish Kumar. Again, the INDIA bloc meeting took place in Bengaluru on July 17-18, in which 28 political parties were present, and then on August 31 and September 3, the third meeting was held. Since day one, the only motive of the Congress party was to make the INDIA bloc stronger. I accept that there are some minor issues with West Bengal but let me say that the INDIA bloc has not been formed for the Assembly election — it is for the Lok Sabha election,” Mr. Ramesh said in Bokaro.
