Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced that her party will go solo in the forthcoming general elections. This announcement comes even as her Punjab counterpart and Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhagwant Mann expressed confidence that the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP will win “all” the Lok Sabha seats in the State.

Both the TMC and the AAP have been major stakeholders in the seven-month-old Opposition coalition, INDIA bloc, led by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge as its chairman.

Interestingly, the main person who conceived the Opposition group, JDU president and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, in June 2023 after severing ties with longtime ally BJP, is now believed to be hobnobbing to return to the NDA fold.

Putting an end to the ongoing consultations and seat-sharing meetings held by Congress with alliance partners, Mamata said, “There is no relationship with the Congress. There is no alliance in Bengal. Let the Congress contest in 300 seats, and let the regional parties contest in the remaining seats. We will not tolerate interference in regard to those seats, and if anyone (read the Congress) causes any interference, then we will handle it in our own way. We will go it alone in Bengal.”

Similarly, Punjab Chief Minister said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab in the 2024 general election. Dismissing the possibility of an alliance with the Congress party in the State, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said, “AAP is not going with them (Congress).”

“I have said it on several occasions that Punjab will become a hero in the country, and the AAP will win 13-0 in the 2024 Lok Sabha election,” Mann said, talking to the media in Chandigarh after a Cabinet meeting.

A visibly irked Mamata also rejected the friendship offer from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying that she had not been contacted by anyone from the grand old party.

Rahul had mentioned on Tuesday that he and his family enjoyed a good chemistry with Mamata and that “talks are on with her, and things will soon fall into place.”

Denying any talks of an alliance with the Congress, the West Bengal CM said, “I had no discussions with the Congress or anyone else. We had given a proposal which they refused from the start. Since then, our party has decided that we will fight alone in West Bengal. It is the decision of the party members, and I have to accept it.”

Mamata even criticised the Congress leadership for not inviting her to Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which has started from Manipur and will traverse through the breadth of the country, ending up in Maharashtra. She alleged, “They did not have the courtesy to invite me to the Nyay Yatra, which will pass through my State, despite the fact that TMC is a part of the INDIA alliance.”

Interestingly, Rahul had earlier said that Mamata had indeed been invited to the Yatra. Apologising for some “occasional sparks that take place when some people from this side or that side make certain remarks,” the top Congress leader mentioned on Tuesday that his party had “invited both Mamata ji and Nitish Kumar to join the (Congress’) Nyay Yatra when it passes through Bengal and Bihar.”

Keeping her post-poll options open, Mamata said that she was very much a part of INDIA alliance and would consider her commitments after the elections. Later in the day, she suffered a minor head injury after her car was involved in an accident. She was returning from Burdwan to Kolkata by road.

On Monday, Mamata had alleged that despite her being a part of the INDIA alliance and despite the name being conceived by her, she received little importance in the meeting where “the Left leaders’ advice is given more preference, and the proceedings are run by the CPI(M).”The Left had already made it clear earlier that they would never go with the TMC.

The West Bengal Chief Minister is reportedly angry with certain remarks made by Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury, who had been asking for an honorable alliance. According to sources, a majority of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) members, including Chowdhury, had demanded 6-8 seats from the TMC, whereas Banerjee was not willing to spare the two - Behrampore and Malda South - presently being held by the Congress.

Reacting to Mamata’s remarks, Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh tried to do some damage control, expressing hope that things would be sorted out soon. He said, “Without TMC, the INDIA alliance cannot be thought of,” adding, “Some way would emerge after discussions.”

However, Adhir Chowdhury refused to comment on the issue, saying he would not speak a word. “Go and ask things from AICC… I don’t have to say anything about this,” a visibly displeased Chowdhury said.

The Left also said that Banerjee was trying to find a chance to come out of the Alliance, which she had done. CPI(M) MP Bikash Bhattacharya said, “We told you that Mamata Banerjee will be the first to come out of the Alliance, and she is in the process of doing it… now the cat is out of the bag.”