Following its split with the Trinamool Congress,the Congresss campaign in the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections seems to have been reduced to insignificance with party leaders predicting a dismal post-poll report card. Aware of its already eroded base,the party is now counting on a hung house so that it can play the king maker with the few seats it hopes to win. We expect the Trinamool Congress to win somewhere between 55 to 65 seats. They will have to take our help to form the board. Thats the scenario we are looking at, said a Pradesh Congress leader. As the party attempts to improve on its 15 seats won in the 2005 civic elections,it is not oblivious of the damage the Trinamool split has done. With Trinamool sweeping polls one after another,a number of Congress leaders have shifted allegiance to the Mamata Banerjees party. These include the likes of senior leaders like Somen Mitra and Subrata Mukherjee,besides several councillors like Samsuzzaman Ansari of ward number 137 and Sailen Dasgupta of ward number 117. Congress sources said the party stands to lose in several areas. There are more than four wards in the area 37,48,49 and 50 where Mitra holds sway. The Congress also expects losses in at least a couple of wards in Gariahat area after the partys former mayor Subrata Mukherjee joined the Trinamool recently. Mukherjees sister,Tanima Chatterjee,is also expected to win comfortably from ward 87 where she has been fielded by the Trinamool. Areas in Behala where the Congress had managed considerable success the last time around have also shifted allegiance to the Trinamool. The bleak situation,say sources,has forced the party to keep its option open for a post-poll alliance with the Trinamool. Despite the dismal state,the Congress is hopeful of winning seats,mainly from north Kolkata and Gardenreach area. It is a crucial situation for us. We have nothing to lose. Accepting Trinamools 25-seat offer would have meant the death of the party in Kolkata. We are trying hard to make an impression and win as many seats as possible. I am hopeful of good results, said Pradip Bhattacharjee,working president of the Pradesh Congress. The Congress has fielded candidates in 120 of the 141 wards in the KMC. While in the alliance,the Congress had asked for 51 seats,but the Trinamool agreed to give away only 25. Following the deadlock,the alliance broke down. Results of 2005 KMC elections * CPM 60 * CPI 4 * Forward Bloc 4 * RSP 6 * Trnamool 42 * Congress 15 * BJP 3 * NCP 4 * Others 3
