Civic polls: Cracks imperil Cong-Trinamool ties

Eighty-one municipalities will go to the polls on May 30 in Bengal.

While a lot now depends on state Congress chief Pranab Mukherjee,who has called a core committee meeting in Delhi on Tuesday to resolve the impasse,senior leaders are of the opinion that grassroots leaders should be allowed to decide on the alliance. Mukherjee is also scheduled to hold talks with Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee after the meeting.

“District-level discussions between Congress and Trinamool have not yielded any conclusive result. At some districts,leaders of our party want to go it alone in the municipal polls. It seems that there will not be seat-sharing throughout Bengal. Such issues will be discussed but it is up to the district leaders to decide on it,” said Pradip Bhattacharjee,working president,state Congress.

On Sunday,Congress leaders of Hooghly,Nadia and Murshidabad announced their intention to fight the municipal polls alone. “We want respectful alliance and seat-sharing. Our ally is not giving us due respect. In Hooghly,therefore,we will field candidates from all seats,” said Abdul Mannan,senior Congress leader.

There are 16 municipalities in Hooghly that will go to the polls.

In Murshidabad,a Congress stronghold,district president Adhir Choudhury has declared there was no room for seat-sharing. In Nadia,Congress leaders like Shankar Singh and Deepa Dasmunshi have already launched a campaign for the polls.

The rift has further widened at the grassroots level after six Congress councillors of Birnagar municipality in Nadia,including chairman Nandadulal Roy,joined Trinamool. Earlier,16 Congress councillors in Ranaghat municipality defected to Trinamool. A section of leaders in Birbhum,too,have defected to the Congress.

“In one after one municipality,Congress councillors are defecting to Trinamool,who have promised them nominations this time. How can I campaign for someone who left my party? Alliance and seat-sharing is out of the question in Nadia,” said Shankar Singh. In Nadia,seven municipalities will go to the polls.

At the Kolkata Municipal Corporation while Congress is asking for 45 seats out of 141 wards,Trinamool is willing to share not more that 25.

In a recent meeting with state Congress leaders at her resident,Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee is also said to have sought to have the final word on the Mayoral candidate for the alliance.