Talks regarding the merger of TMC with Congress have progressed. It appears that Mamata Banerjee is ready to accept Sonia Gandhi’s offer, but she has also placed some conditions before Rahul Gandhi through Abhishek Banerjee.
According to sources, Abhishek Banerjee discussed this issue in a meeting with Rahul Gandhi. The TMC leader has demanded that Mamata Banerjee be elected to the Rajya Sabha and be given the position of Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. However, the Congress’s response to this has not been released.
Sonia Gandhi herself called Mamata Banerjee and offered her the merger of TMC with Congress. According to sources, Sonia Gandhi told Mamata Banerjee that she would merge TMC with Congress in exchange for her appointment as National Vice President of Congress. Furthermore, her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee would also be given the position of party General Secretary.
The leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party proposed to Mamata Banerjee that, given the BJP’s political attacks on the TMC, she should merge her party with the Congress, or else the BJP would harass her like the Aam Aadmi Party. Furthermore, internal members of her party are also against Abhishek Banerjee, making the situation difficult for her. Sources also stated that Mamata Banerjee has asked for a few days to decide.
Speculation of a TMC merger with the Congress gained strength when TMC chief Mamata Banerjee met Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi twice over the past two days (June 8 and 9) at her residence, 10 Janpath. Warmth was evident between the two leaders during the meeting, with Mamata and Sonia even embracing each other. Following this, Rahul Gandhi and Abhishek Banerjee also met today. According to sources, the meeting between Rahul Gandhi and Abhishek Banerjee at 10 Janpath lasted for about an hour and a half.