Bitten by ally,Cong shy of head-on collision with Trinamool

Till date,the Congress had been seeking 51 seats from the Trinamool but the latter was not willing to give more than 25 seats.

The Congress is caught in a dilemma as accepting Trinamool’s offer would antagonise party workers. The party has been witnessing several such protests from its cadres for the last few days.

“We are in a trouble. If we field candidate for 83 seats,we have to contest against both Trinamool and the CPM. We don’t see any prospect in this. On the other hand,if we field candidates in 25 seats,we would have to face more violent protests from our supporters,” said a senior state Congress leader.

“Moreover,our leaders in Delhi don’t want to upset Mamata Banerjee at this moment,” the Congress leader added.

The Congress has also realised that after former state Congress president Somen Mitra left the party to join Trinamool,party’s presence in central Kolkata has worn out.

“Only 25 seats cannot solve our problem. We have told our leaders for a higher number of seats,” said Pradip Ghosh after attending the meeting.

Historysheeter Hubba files nomination
Notorious historysheeter Shyamal Das alias Hubba Shyamal against whom over 40 criminal cases are pending filed his nomination as an Independent candidate for the civic polls on Thurdsay from Konnagar municipality. Clad in a spotless white kurta-pyajama and sporting a sunglass,Das reached the nomination centre with his 150 odd supporters.

A resident of Dharmadanga in Konnagar,Das has been charged with murders,kidnapping and extortion. He and his gang were mostly active in parts of Hooghly.

“We have not received his personal details. If anybody complaints against him to the Returning Officer then the matter will be looked into,” replied Mira Pandey,Election Commissioner,when asked about his nomination.

“Whether a candidate will be allowed to contest depends on the nature of the crime and the number of cases pending against him or her,” added Pandey.

In 2005,he and one of his close associates,Benarasi Bapi,were arrested from the City Centre area in Salt Lake by a team of CID officers. Apart from his criminal activities,Das runs a scrap iron business.