Congress resumes seat sharing talks with TMC, may get 5 seats in Bengal

The Congress party, after successfully concluding seat-sharing deals with its INDIA alliance partners Samajwadi party in Uttar Pradesh and Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, is now hopeful of clinching a poll arrangment in West Bengal with the Trinamool Congress as well.

The talks in West Bengal seemed to have hit a roadblock after the Trinamool Congress chief and WB chief minister Mamata Banerjee, irritated by the Congress’ unrealistic demands, had offered the party only two seats in the state. She was also ambivalent about her party’s membership in the INDIA alliance, and said she would review the situation after the Lok Sabha elections.

TMC offer to Congress

However, sources say that she has softened her attitude towards the Congress, and is now offering them five seats out of West Bengal’s 42 seats. In exchange, the Congress will probably have to agree to give the TMC one seat in Meghalaya and two seats in Assam. The Congress seems to have come to terms with the fact that it will have to settle for fewer seats in states, where the main Opposition party is stronger, as in UP and Punjab.

The indications are that the seats the Congress will be given in West Bengal are Darjeeling, Malda South, Malda North, Behrampur, and Raiganj. The party is still hoping to get one more seat, though the chances are slim.

The seat-sharing talks among the INDIA alliance partners gained momentum after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke to Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav and accepted his offer of 17 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Further, the INDIA seemed on track as the Congress-AAP tie-up in Delhi was finalised, with AAP getting 4 seats and Congress 3.

The Congress will, in return, give AAP two seats in Gujarat and one seat in Haryana.