New Delhi: Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee met Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday to explore possibilities to deepen ties, a day after party chief Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi, but the regional party junked speculation that the two outfits were discussing a merger.
A senior TMC leader, aware of the details said: “The two leaders discussed a lot of issues including the plans of the INDIA alliance and the way ahead for the two parties. There were also some political discussions related to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks at the INDIA meeting on vote theft.”
The back-to-back meetings, however, betrayed a sense of desperation in the TMC which lost power in West Bengal last month after 15 years.
Congress’s former Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “I am not an astrologer. I have no information about any merger or such things involving Bengal. Perhaps if a formal decision is reached on any matter, we will certainly be taken into confidence.”
The TMC didn’t rule out the possibilities of an alliance with the Congress in West Bengal, something it avoided in the past 14 years.
A senior TMC leader said, “There was a solid bonding,” when asked about the meeting on Wednesday.
Underlining the significance of the meeting, TMC pointed out that it was scheduled for 45 minutes but went on for 88 minutes.
