‘Mamata Banerjee very much part of INDIA bloc’: Rahul Gandhi denies internal conflicts, says ‘seat-sharing talks on…'

Rejecting claims of internal dispute inside the INDIA bloc, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister is “very much part of the INDIA alliance". He also mentioned Nitish Kumar and his exit from the bloc and said that the whole INDIA bloc would fight elections together in Bihar.

“Mamata (Banerjee) is very much part of the INDIA alliance and most of the other members who are part of the INDIA alliance are still members of the INDIA alliance. Nitish Kumar has left the alliance and he's gone to the BJP. You can guess as to what the reasons are for him leaving. That's fine. We'll fight in Bihar as the INDIA alliance. So I don't agree that lots of our partners are not part of the alliance..."

He also added that the member parties are carrying forward their negotiations for the seat-sharing arrangement. He termed disagreements among the parties over seat-sharing as “normal".

Earlier, the chief minister had expressed her displeasure over the party's lack of communication on seat-sharing negotiations. She also claimed that the party leadership didn't inform her about the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entering West Bengal. 

Later, she declared that her party wouldn't fight the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Congress in West Bengal. She also accused the grand old party of joining hands with the CPI (M) to assist the BJP in the elections.

“I have not spoken to anyone in the Congress (on seat-sharing), let the Congress fight 300 seats on its own. The regional parties are together and can contest the rest. However, we will not tolerate any interference by them (Congress)," said Mamata Banerjee.

The INDIA bloc suffered another setback after Nitish Kumar dumped ‘Mahagathbandhan’ and joined hands with the