The Trinamool Congress is ready to support Congress in the upcoming elections for the Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal if it nominates former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar or Pradip Bhattacharya as its candidate.
"We have conveyed a message to the Congress leadership that we are ready to support their candidate in the Rajya Sabha election if Meira Kumar or Pradip Bhattacharya is their candidate," a senior TMC leader told PTI, pleading anonymity.
The TMC leader's comment on the party's support comes in the backdrop of West Bengal Congress leadership urging the party's high command to consider Kumar, also the Opposition's common candidate in the just-concluded presidential poll, as a candidate for elections of Rajya Sabha seats from the state.
The Congress central leadership is yet to take a call on the selection of the party's candidate.
Asked if the TMC will support Congress if it decides to field someone else, the TMC leader said, "We will then take a call on it."
The polls will be held for the sic RS seats from the state on August 8. Out of the six four are held by the TMC, one by the CPI(M) and one by the Congress.
The TMC, however, with its increased strength after the 2016 assembly polls, is in a position to send five MPs to the Rajya Sabha. The Congress, the second largest party, will be able to elect one MP on its own strength.
With the present strength of the assembly and the number of Rajya Sabha seats going to polls, a candidate will need about 43 votes to get elected to the RS.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front has 32 MLAs in the assembly. The Congress has 44 MLAs and the ruling TMC has 211 members.
Although eight Congress MLAs and one Left MLA have switched over to the TMC, they are yet to resign from their parent parties. Only Manas Bhunia, a Congress MLA, resigned yesterday to contest the Rajya Sabha polls as a TMC candidate. He had joined TMC in September last year.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)