The Trinamul Congress is ready to extend support to the Congress in the 2024 general elections in regions where the Congress is strong. But the Congress, too, should reciprocate the political gesture by not fighting the Trinamul on a daily basis in states like Bengal.

That was Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee’s message to the Congress party, also her explainer for the one-on-one fight formula against the BJP, a day after the grand old party’s stupendous victory in Karnataka.

To make the formula work, Banerjee stated that the Trinamul alone should be allowed to fight the BJP in Bengal without the Left-Congress combine cutting into its vote share.

“I think wherever the regional parties are strong like in Bihar, Odisha, Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and so many other states, these parties should be given priority to fight the BJP. And places where the Congress is strong, in the 200-odd seats which we have calculated, let them fight and we will give them support. But they must reciprocate by supporting the other political parties as well. If I offer you support in Karnataka, your policy should not be to fight me daily in my state. This is true for everybody,” Banerjee said at the state secretariat Nabanna on Monday.

This is the first time she has actually warmed up to the idea of having the Congress in the Opposition fold to take on the BJP. She has now put on the table a possible unity strategy for the Opposition camp. And it is a gameplan that includes the Congress. Political observers felt that Congress’s Karnataka performance may have forced Didi to address the Congress factor sooner than she would have liked to.

Starting off with a rider, “I am not a magician. And I am not at all an astrologer. I cannot say what will happen in future,” Banerjee was responding to a question on how she foresees the prospects of the Opposition’s one-on-one fight against the BJP with Congress in the equation.

“If you want to achieve some good things, then you must also be ready to make sacrifices in certain areas,” she declared, and added: “For the sake of saving the country, this should be a level playing ground for all parties. This must be done to save democracy and the people of this country.”

Questions, though, have already been raised on whether Banerjee’s formula would work in her own state where the Congress is already in an alliance with Trinamul’s arch rival, the CPI-M, and where the state leadership of the party have declared an aggressive political war against Banerjee and her policies.

“Wherever regional parties are strong, the BJP cannot fight in those places. These are places where people are demoralized and frustrated. There's anti-incumbency and other factors at work. For instance in Karnataka, if you look at the verdict, it’s against the BJP government. People are antagonized. They considered the dispensation atrocious and terrible. The economy is ruined. Democratic rights are bulldozed. Even the wrestlers are not spared,” the Bengal chief minister said on Monday, explaining her stand.

“In this situation I feel those who are strong in their own places, in their respective regions, should fight in unity. For example in Bengal, I think we should fight here. In Delhi, for instance, the AAP should fight there. In Bihar Nitish Kumar and Tejaswi Yadav are already together and the Congress is also present. They should decide their formula, I can’t decide it for them. Similar methods should be followed in states like Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and elsewhere. It’s their choice,” she added.

“In UP, of course, Akhilesh Yadav should be given that opportunity. There’s also Ajit Singh and there are different combinations in that state. I am not saying that the Congress should not fight there. Let’s decide this carefully. The talks are on and they have not reached final stages. We can talk about it in detail only when the matter is discussed threadbare,” Banerjee stated.

“At this point, everybody is having their own thoughts about this move,” the Trinamul chief said and hung an air of uncertainty over the developments in the country’s Opposition camps.