“Much against her desire to emerge as the face of the Opposition alliance, no one ever proposed her name. Her several trips to Delhi, to build a national profile, didn’t work. She just couldn’t hide the blood of post-poll violence and rid herself of the nauseating stink of appeasement politics,” Malviya said.”An embarrassed Mamata, to save face, pitched for Mallikarjun Kharge, ruling herself out in the process.She realised, despite her bluster, she had no currency in the Opposition camp and had been building ground to snap out for long.But the fact that her announcement to go solo comes just before Rahul Gandhi’s circus arrives in Bengal is a death knell for the I.N.D.I.Alliance,” he added.In a surprise move, Banerjee on Wednesday announced that the TMC would go alone in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, citing disagreement with the Congress over seat-sharing issue.The Congress, meanwhile, said no one can imagine the existence of the opposition INDIA bloc without Banerjee.Addressing a press conference at North Salmara in Assam as part of the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is an “important pillar” of the opposition alliance.”No one can imagine the INDIA alliance without Mamata ji.The INDIA bloc will fight the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal and all (partners) will participate,” he said.”Banerjee said that defeating the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls is the prime responsibility of all of us,” Ramesh added.According to sources, the TMC’s offer of two seats to the grand old party based on its 2019 Lok Sabha elections performance, triggered tension among them, as the arrangement was deemed insufficient.
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