Baseless rumours: Congress rejects TMC merger buzz amid crisis in West Bengal
The Congress on Thursday rubbished speculation about a possible merger with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), describing such reports as baseless rumours. Addressing a press conference
The Congress on Thursday rubbished speculation about a possible merger with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), describing such reports as baseless rumours. Addressing a press conference, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said discussions during a recent meeting with former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee were confined to national issues and did not involve any talks on a merger between the two parties.
Read Full Story "These are baseless rumours. The meeting between TMC and Congress leaders was only to discuss raising the national issues in a more effective manner," he said. Speculation about a possible merger between the TMC and the Congress gathered momentum after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, attended the INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi on Monday. On the sidelines of the meeting, the two leaders also met Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, fuelling rumours that the TMC could merge with the Congress nearly three decades after breaking away from the party.
The speculation comes amid a split within the TMC's legislative and parliamentary wings, barely a month after the party was voted out of power in West Bengal, securing only 80 seats in the 294-member Assembly. However, Trinamool has not officially commented on the possibility of a merger. TMC MP Saugata Roy, considered a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, said it was important for the party to work with the Congress, but added that it remains to be seen whether that cooperation would take the form of an alliance or a merger.
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