The Congress on Thursday dismissed reports suggesting a possible merger with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), calling the speculation completely unfounded.
Speaking at a press conference, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said recent interactions between Congress leaders and Mamata Banerjee were focused solely on national issues and coordination within the opposition camp.
“These are baseless rumours. The discussions were only about how opposition parties can raise national issues more effectively,” Venugopal said.
Speculation about a possible merger gained momentum after Mamata Banerjee and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee attended the INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi earlier this week. Both leaders later met Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi separately.
The development triggered political chatter, especially as Mamata Banerjee has often skipped INDIA bloc meetings in the past, choosing instead to send senior party representatives. She had also stayed away from the alliance’s first meeting in Patna in 2023.
The merger buzz comes at a time when the TMC is facing internal challenges following its recent electoral setback in West Bengal, where the party lost power after securing only 80 seats in the 294-member Assembly.
While the Congress has categorically denied any merger talks, the TMC has also played down such reports. Senior TMC leader Saugata Roy said cooperation with the Congress was important but noted that there had been no discussion on whether that cooperation would take the form of an alliance or a merger.
Ritabrata Banerjee, who claims the support of a majority of TMC MLAs in the state, also rejected the speculation.
“There is no question of our legislative party joining the Congress. The MPs are not merging either, so the question is who is merging with whom?” he said.
Mamata Banerjee spent over two decades in the Congress before breaking away in 1997 due to differences with the party’s state leadership. A year later, she founded the Trinamool Congress, which eventually emerged as the main opposition force in West Bengal and ended the Left Front’s 34-year rule in 2011.
For now, both the Congress and the TMC have denied any plans for a merger. However, political observers continue to watch developments closely as opposition parties explore ways to strengthen cooperation ahead of future political battles.