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Journalism of Courage
KOLKATA, JAN 21: A section of West Bengal State Congress is making moves to evolve a tacit understanding with Trinamool Congress for the ensuing Assembly poll despite TC Chief Mamata Banerjee’s recent announcement that her party will contest the coming election in alliance with the BJP.
Insiders in the WBPCC here said that those who were eager to have some understanding with the Trinamool Congress belonged to the camp of former state Congress President A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury who favoured proposed ‘mahajot’ (grand alliance) comprising TC, Congress and BJP to oust the CPI-M-led ruling Left Front.
WBPCC President Pranab Mukherjee has however made it clear on a number of occasions that his party was keen on entering into an alliance with Trinamool to defeat the Left Front, but such alliance could be formed without BJP.
Those who were for a ‘mahajot’ said that the party high command might have some compulsion for not joining a grand alliance with BJP as a partner, directly or indirectly, but the grassroot workers desperately wanted ‘mahajot’.
Sources in state Congress admitted that the party was caught in a dilemma regarding entering into any alliance with Trinamool Congress. They also did not rule out further exodus of party MLAs to Trinamool Congress before the coming assembly poll in a few months time. Over a dozen prominent Congress legislators including Pankaj Banerjee, Subrata Mukherjee, Ambica Banerjee had defected to Trinamool Congress.
No truck with Congress to counter BJP: Buddha
Bhubaneshwar: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee expressed confidence that the Left Front would return to power after the Assembly elections as there was no alternative in the state.
He said the Left Front would face the main opposition from the Trinamool Congress-BJP Alliance in the coming elections. The Congress party was also trying to join the grand alliance, he said. Bhattacharjee said CPI (M) would never join hands with the Congress to counter the BJP as his party had fundamental differences with the Congress on economic policies.
However, ‘‘if we have to choose between the BJP and the Congress and no third alternative was available, we will support Congress’’, he said.
