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NEW DELHI: The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) on Saturday categorically rejected speculation that it could merge with the Congress, with party national joint secretary Derek O’Brien describing such reports as “fake news”. He insisted that there was no basis to the claims that surfaced after the top leaders of the two parties met in New Delhi.”Let me put an end to this fake news about the AITC merging with any other party. Baseless. Yes, that’s the perfect word used by my friend KC Venugopal,” O’Brien said, seeking to draw a line under the speculation.The clarification comes amid heightened political chatter triggered by a series of interactions between senior Trinamool Congress and Congress leaders earlier this week, including meetings involving TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.The Congress has also firmly denied reports of a possible merger.On Thursday, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal dismissed the speculation, saying, “How can we answer for this rumour? These are totally rumours. Yesterday our communication secretary has already stated that. These are baseless things. Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, but it was a routine discussion as they (TMC) are an extension of INDIA alliance.” The recent engagements between the two parties were aimed at strengthening coordination within the opposition INDIA bloc rather than discussing any organisational integration, news agency PTI reported citing sources.On Wednesday, Abhishek Banerjee met Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi. Reports said that the meeting was part of ongoing consultations between the Congress and the TMC following talks held during the INDIA bloc meeting earlier in the week.A day earlier, Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi after attending the opposition alliance meeting in the national capital. While neither side officially disclosed details of the interaction, sources said the former West Bengal chief minister stressed the need for greater opposition unity and advocated collective action by INDIA bloc partners on public issues and against the BJP.
