Didi fires her Singur point man

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has shown the door to her trusted aide Becharam Manna,who was her point man during the Singur agitation. On Saturday,Manna,who headed Trinamool’s trade union wing in Hooghly district,was suspended from the party along with 17 of his supporters reportedly for his agitation against the Coal India complex at Dankuni,which had not gone down well with Banerjee.

Meanwhile,the Trinamool chief was today huddled with senior party leaders at the Trinamool Bhawan,firming up strategy for seat-sharing with ally Congress for the coming municipal polls. Congress veteran and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to sit with his party leaders tomorrow in Kolkata to formulate strategy for civic polls. Both allies are expected to begin seat-sharing talks next week.

While the Trinamool is aiming for a lion’s share as far contesting seats in the 82 municipal bodies in the state is concerned,ally Congress wants to fight a “respectable” number of seats.