TMC and Congress Leaders Meet Amid Rebellion, Merger Talks Sparked

Amid rebellion in the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee met Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, for about 90 minutes on Wednesday. The meeting took place at 10 Janpath, where discussions were held on strengthening the opposition INDIA alliance and future strategy. According to sources, the TMC has expressed its desire for a strong alliance, acknowledging Rahul Gandhi's leadership. The meeting has reignited talk of a merger of the TMC and Congress in the political corridors. However, on Wednesday, the Congress has made it clear that no merger proposal should come from the TMC, they are not pressing for it. Just yesterday, Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi. Photos of the two leaders hugging each other went viral on social media. Mamata Banerjee left the Congress in 1998 to form the Trinamool Congress. In 2011, the two parties together defeated the Left Front government in West Bengal, but later the relationship between the two parties deteriorated. Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-INDIA alliance has again lost its steam in West Bengal.