Congress would have gained had it fought Bengal polls alone: Abhijit Mukherjee

New Delhi, Mar 21: The Congress''s vote share would have increased if it had fought the West Bengal elections without aligning with the Left, former party MP Abhijit Mukherjee said on Saturday.

Abhijit, the son of former president Pranab Mukherjee, said that his party has forged an alliance with only the Left Front and not Abbas Siddiqui''s ISF.

"The Congress''s vote share would have increased if it fought the elections alone. This is my personal opinion. However, it is not necessary that the increase in vote share would mean an increase in seats," he told reporters on the sidelines of a programme at the Arabinda Stadium here.

"Congress would have been able to fight on more number of seats if it contested the elections without going into any alliance. The chances of winning would have been more. Still, I am hopeful that the alliance will form the next government in West Bengal," he added.

The Congress has aligned with the Left Front and ISF for fighting the assembly elections in West Bengal, taking on the ruling TMC and opposition BJP.
Mukherjee''s comments come even as the three sides give a final touch to the seat-sharing arrangement.

The Congress got 5.67 per cent votes in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, most of which came from Murshidabad and Malda Dakshin seats where party candidates won.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front got around 7 per cent votes but could not manage to win a single amid a bipolar contest between the BJP (40.64 per cent) and TMC (43.69 per cent). The TMC won 22 seats, while the BJP bagged 18 seats, emerging as the main opposition party in the state.