Assam opposition bloc in soup after TMC contends for four seats

Guwahati, March 15 (IANS) The opposition bloc in Assam faced another setback after Trinamool Congress (TMC) announced candidates for four Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Sushmita Dev, TMC leader, told IANS: “The seat sharing talks failed in Assam due to the Congress party. We have been demanding four seats to contest the Lok Sabha polls here, but Congress was not finalising the seat sharing despite repeated discussion with Assam Trinamool Congress president Ripun Bora.”

Dev said: “We selected seats with proper analysis, however, Congress kept everything in limbo.”

The Trinamool Congress leader also criticised the Congress party: “There is no guarantee that if a candidate wins the election on a Congress ticket, he or she will not join any other party. In Assam, Trinamool Congress is the only party which does not have any backdoor understanding with BJP.”

TMC has given candidates in four seats in Assam—Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Lakhimpur and Silchar. Barring the Lakhimpur seat, Congress earlier announced candidates in other three seats. In Barpeta, another constituent of the opposition bloc, CPI-M, will also fight the polls.

According to people aware of the matter, Congress will face a major challenge following the announcement of candidates by TMC and CPI-M.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “I expected that BJP will win 11 seats in the state. But now looking at the opposition parties, we are hopeful to win at least 13 out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.”