Trinamool Congress will emerge as 3rd largest party: Mukul Roy

Claiming that Trinamool Congress would decide the fate of next government at the Centre, party general secretary Mukul Roy on Monday said the Mamata Benerjee-led outfit was all set to emerge as the third largest party after the Lok Sabha elections.

"TMC will be the third largest party in Lok Sabha after the next general elections," Roy told reporters after addressing partymen in Bhubaneswar.

He claimed TMC would capture at least 32 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.

As both Congress and BJP along with their allies would fail to form government, TMC as the third largest party would decide who will form the government at the Centre, Roy claimed.

To a question, Roy said BJP's tally could be below 100 seats as the saffron party had no existence in South India.

"Of the 170 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, BJP may take 10 seats," he said, adding that similar was the situation in Assam, West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar.

BJP could win 30 of the 130 Lok Sabha seats in eastern India, Roy said, adding that the condition of Congress was equally bad as it had been in power only in few states.

He said a Federal Front would come to power at the Centre with assistance of regional parties. Roy also rejected the possibility of the proposed front by Left parties.

The Trinamool general secretary announced that the party would field candidates in Odisha in the coming general elections. He, however, said the party was yet to decide the number of seats it wanted to contest in Odisha.

Stating that there had been no alliance with any party in Odisha, the former railway minister said TMC was in consultation with other parties.

Image: Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy