TMC dismisses Congress merger rumours as baseless

The Trinamool Congress has dismissed rumours of a merger with the Congress, calling them baseless. Speculation arose after meetings involving Mamata Banerjee, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, even as the TMC faces internal rebellion following its recent electoral setback

New Delhi: Amid rumours of a possible merger of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with the Congress, sources in the Mamata Banerjee-led party dismissed the reports on Wednesday, stating that there was no such plan.

Dismissing the reports, a senior TMC leader called them “baseless”.

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“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 on Tuesday, which came a day after the Congress released a photograph of the two leaders hugging at the INDIA bloc meeting.

While both parties did not disclose details of the meeting between the two veteran leaders, sources said Banerjee stressed opposition unity and asserted that the INDIA bloc should work together to take on the BJP on various public issues.

On Wednesday, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee met 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 came at a time when the TMC is facing internal rebellion following its defeat in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections.

At the INDIA bloc meeting on 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 its 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 more than 20 Lok Sabha MPs who want to break away.