Mamata

Calcutta, Jan. 28: Mamata Banerjee told Pranab Mukherjee tonight that she would not snap ties with the BJP, pouring cold water on hopes of an anti-CPM alliance in the state.

The Trinamul Congress chief conveyed her decision at a one-to-one with the state Congress president at Nizam Palace.

Mamata, however, urged Mukherjee to see to it that there is no clash of candidates from the parties opposed to the CPM during the Assembly elections.

“We can prevent a split in the anti-CPM vote bank and thus ensure electoral reverses of the Front nominees only if the entire Opposition in Bengal stands united against the ruling CPM. I want the state Congress to join forces with my nine-party Paschimbanga Ganatantrik Front, which comprises the BJP and a string of other small parties,” she told Mukherjee.

The state Congress chief reiterated to Mamata the AICC’s pledge at the just-concluded Hyderabad plenary that it would not have any truck with a party that has links with the BJP. “We cannot tie up with Trinamul? because of our national compulsion. However, the doors are still open for further discussion,” he told reporters after the meeting.

Tonight’s one-to-one followed a letter from Mukherjee in which he had requested Mamata to discuss the proposed alliance after she refused to part ways with the BJP at a meeting on December 31 last year.

According to Mamata, though the BJP is not a force to reckon with in Bengal, severing ties with the party and forging seat adjustments with the state Congress during the 2001 Assembly polls had cost her dear. The Trinamul had suffered poll reverses in over 60 seats. The state Congress had got 30 candidates elected, including four Independents it had supported.

“If we can put up a single nominee against a Front candidate, then we can definitely fare better than the previous polls in nearly 200 seats across the state,” she told Mukherjee.

“If Pranabda believes that there’s room for discussions, I am game. In the greater interest of the people, a mahajot is a crying need’’, the Trinamul chief told reporters later.