New Delhi: Amid rumours of a possible merger of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with the Congress, sources from the Mamata Banerjee-led party dismissed the reports Wednesday, stating there was no such plan.
Dismissing the reports, a senior TMC leader called them baseless.
We have no such information. This is baseless, a senior TMC leader told PTI.
Speculation about a possible merger gained ground following a meeting between TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi Tuesday, which came a day after the Congress released a photograph of the two leaders hugging at the INDIA bloc meeting.
While both the parties did not disclose details of the meeting between the two veteran leaders, the sources said Banerjee stressed opposition unity, and asserted that the INDIA bloc should work together to take on the BJP regarding various public issues.
Wednesday, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee met the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
Sources said the Rahul-Abhishek meeting was being seen as part of the ongoing engagement between the Congress and the TMC following discussions at the INDIA bloc meeting held in Delhi earlier this week.
While details of the meeting were not immediately available, the development occurred when the TMC is facing internal rebellion following its defeat in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections.
At the INDIA bloc meeting Monday, opposition leaders emphasised the need for greater coordination and unity among alliance partners to challenge the BJP.
Banerjee had urged alliance constituents to set aside differences and work together on public issues.
Banerjee formed the TMC in 1998 after breaking away from the Congress.
The party later grew into West Bengal’s dominant political force, ending the Left Front’s 34-year rule in the state in 2011.
Troubles have mounted for the TMC since the party’s election defeat last month and the subsequent rebellion within the party’s legislature wing. Last week, more than two-thirds of the party’s MLAs — 58 of its 80 legislators — broke away from the official TMC legislature party and secured recognition as the principal opposition bloc in the Assembly under expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee.
The crisis reached Delhi last week, with rebel MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claiming support from over 20 Lok Sabha MPs who want to break away.