CPI-M spoilt my cordial ties with Congress: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has said that she had a cordial relationship with Congress until CPI-M spoiled it. She, however, reiterated that her All India Trinamool Congress would contest all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

"I offered Congress two seats in Malda. I told them that I will help them win those two seats. But they did not agree. Do they want all 42 seats then," Banerjee said in Malda, a Congress stronghold since the days of former railway minister Ghani Khan Chowdhury.

"My relationship with Congress was cordial. It went wrong due to CPI-M's continuous interference. They are working as BJP's agent. I cannot pardon CPI-M, the party which has beaten me several times," she alleged. Only AITC could defeat BJP, she claimed and added it would field candidates in Congress strongholds of Malda and Murshidabad. Banerjee walked a km in Malda, ahead of an administrative meeting, timed to coincide with Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.


"In two seats, Congress MPs have won for years. What have they done," Banerjee asked. "Our fight will continue against BJP and we will fight alone. Only Trinamool can defeat them. You have blessed us in last assembly polls, and we have done developmental work," she said.

"Truly unbelievable scenes in Malda... The bus yatra has virtually ground to a halt as tens of thousands of people on the streets make it near impossible for the bus to move..." Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh posted on X.