On 10th March, the Trinamool Congress announced 42 candidates for Lok Sabha elections on all seats of West Bengal. One of the names that stood out in the list was former cricketer Yusuf Pathan who will contest general elections from Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency. Yusuf Pathan had also played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Notably, Berhampur is Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s stronghold.
Interestingly, TMC claims that Ranjan was the reason behind the collapse of alliance talks with Congress. Ranjan consistently attacked the TMC-led West Bengal government in his statements which, according to TMC, led to the talks falling flat. Congress reportedly sought 8-9 seats in West Bengal for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, but TMC was ready to give more than two seats, which Congress had won in the previous elections.
Following TMC’s announcement of candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party repeatedly asked for a “respectable” seat share for the General Elections. He said, “The Congress has always maintained that such an agreement has to be finalised through negotiations and not by unilateral announcements. The Indian National Congress has always wanted the INDIA group to fight the BJP together.”
I.N.D.I. Alliance collapsed in West Bengal
With the announcement of candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, the I.N.D.I. Alliance fell apart in one more state. The alliance formed by the opposition parties to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections has repeatedly failed to show any strong desire to defeat the BJP-led NDA alliance. While TMC is playing solo in West Bengal, AAP is playing solo in Punjab. Interestingly, the Communist Party of India (CPI) fielded senior leader Annie Raja from Wayanad, Kerala in February 2024 for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Wayanad is Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s constituency and is contesting Lok Sabha elections again from there.