At the Opposition meeting in Patna last week, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were seen sitting at a distance, but exchanged words while Banerjee was stepping out.

The plan to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) floated so far is ‘one to one’ on each seat. In the next meeting in Shimla, things will take shape, according to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

However, the ground situation in Bengal, according to the TMC, is that in various places, the Congress, BJP and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) are going hand-in-hand against Banerjee’s party. The “enmity” between the TMC and Congress shows that it is clear that there can’t be any “understanding”.

In the Panchayat campaign poll meeting, Banerjee said, “We are trying to make ‘Mahajot’ in Delhi, but here the Congress, CPIM and BJP has made ‘Mahaghot’ behind me . I will break their ‘Mahaghot’….”

The comment proves that although there can be an alliance in the Centre, the TMC will not give an inch space to Congress in Bengal.

Meanwhile, Kunal Ghosh, State General Secretary and Spokesperson, TMC, tweeted a BJP-Congress poster. “Can u see this @kharge? This is your party’s battle strategy in Bengal. They are behaving as NDA partner. @AITCofficial is fighting against BJP and your party is trying to give oxygen to BJP. First u take decision, who is your enemy? This kind of politics has made congress 0.”

On the other hand, Congress leader Adhir Choudhury attacked the TMC. On Saturday, he said: “Nitish ji called us, Mamata ji asked Rahul ji how is he, he answered bas … Mamata is bound to go there that’s compulsion. Congress always fights against BJP. Some days ago, Mamata ji had said bad things about Rahul ji. She has not said anything on Bharat Jodo…”

Meanwhile, the BJP has called the Patna meeting a “wedding reception”. “Let them meet. Lalu ji asked Rahul ji to get married…They can do whatever they want, but can’t defeat the BJP.”