Didi pockets Cong, holds BJP thread

Didi pockets Cong, holds BJP thread
SUBRATA NAGCHOUDHURY

KOLKATA, APRIL 3: After a day of hectic behind the scenes parleys, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress today announced an alliance in 276 out of the 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal. But what is being kept under the wraps is that the BJP continues to share space in the seat-sharing agreement, at least with Mamata Banerjee’s party.

Till now, Mamata has been keen on not fielding any candidate in seats allotted to BJP earlier and hopes to get the support from the BJP high command on its strategy to take on the Left Front unitedly.

For the first time ever since the talks started between the two sides, AICC emissary Kamal Nath and Mamata addressed the media jointly this evening, announcing the agreement a ‘‘great achievement’’. ‘‘The aim is to beat the Left. Mamata Banerjee is our next chief minister for Bengal,’’ Nath said.

The Trinamool leader reciprocated the gesture saying: ‘‘When we have been able to agree in 276 seats, the remaining 18 will not be a major hurdle. It will be sorted out soon. Negotiations are on.’’

Both the Trinamool camp and Kamal Nath gave a twist to the numbers game. Neither was willing to spell out the break-up of seats that each side will be contesting. Asked if the BJP had been taken into account in the 276 seats, Mamata Banerjee said: ‘‘Yes, there are some, but not all.’’ Though she refused to elaborate, it is learnt that Mamata has agreed to give 57 seats to the Congress, of which 24 belong to sitting MLAs.

‘‘The Congress and the Trinamool will have separate election manifestos but we will campaign together,’’ Mamata said. She said that to put up a combined fight against the Left, the Trinamool may have to re-adjust seat arrangements in Malda and Murshidabad districts and give away some seats.

Even though Kamal Nath called the alliance a great achievement, the state Congress looked a dejected lot. Soon after Nath arrived this morning, PCC chief Pranab Mukherjee and Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi went into a huddle at the AICC emissary’s Kolkata residence. Mukherjee left the house, looking grave and saying: ‘‘Sudip Bandopadhyay of the Trinamool and Kamal Nath have held discussions. We were not represented in the meeting. I am hopeful and have nothing more to say.’’

Kamal Nath later said that the state Congress leadership as well as the Congress high command had demanded Mamata’s pullout from the NDA as a preconditon for support. ‘‘She has done that. What more can one expect,’’ he asked.

Asked if some of the senior Congress leaders, including Somen Mitra, were threatening to leave the party, Nath said: ‘‘We are not going to sacrifice Somen Mitra. There is no dispute about his seat in Sealdah.’’