But her biggest shot in the arm has been the latest stand-off between the Congress and the CPM over the nuclear deal. In numerous parleys with the central Congress leadership, Mamata reminded them of her consistent argument: the CPM can never be trusted. Even as the fissures within the UPA get deeper, a restive

Mamata looks genuinely interested in forging an alliance with the Congress before a possible snap mid-term poll. Between the two sides it is a unique situation with Congress urging Mamata to dump the NDA first, and Mamata urging the Congress leadership to dump the CPM if it wanted to go for the polls in alliance with the TMC.

If nothing else, Mamata has earned a credibility for being the most durable and uncompromising of communist-haters. As long as the agenda is to dislodge the communists, she is game for any alliance and may even be ready to part ways with the NDA. She had been maintaining a studied distance from the BJP over the past one year with an eye to the Muslim vote. And Muslims, remember, comprise 25 per cent of Bengal’s vote share. In her party’s assessment as well as that of independent political circles, a snap poll with a TMC-Congress combine should reduce the CPM’s number of seats more than it did in 1984, when the Congress won 16 seats after the sympathy wave caused by the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Mamata’s optimism might not be unfounded, but the way ahead is rife with uncertainty.