Calcutta, May 25: Buoyed by her rural poll success, Mamata Banerjee has decided to go it alone in the elections to 13 municipalities on June 29.

The Trinamul Congress chief has told her aides that the party will not forge any alliance with either the Congress or the BJP for the civic polls.

“Mamatadi has given us a clear directive: we are contesting the elections independently,” said MLA Subrata Bakshi.

Sources said the BJP’s victory in Karnataka helped her firm up her decision not to tie up with the Congress now.

“An official understanding with the Congress will isolate us at the national level. That is why, we shall maintain equidistance from the BJP and the Congress in Bengal,” Bakshi added.

Of the 13 municipalities, the Congress and Trinamul now control four — Diamond Harbour, Midnapore, Alipurduar and Haldibari.

Trinamul is hopeful that the decision to go it alone would help the party establish its organisational strength not only in south Bengal districts but also in the north.

“We are confident of wresting Chakdah in Nadia and Panihati and Habra in North 24-Parganas from the Left, cashing in on our performance in the rural polls. Cracks in the Left Front will also help us in Mekhliganj, Alipurduar and Balurghat,” said Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy.

The CPM and the Forward Bloc are at loggerheads in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri. The Big Brother and the RSP are squabbling in South Dinajpur.

Although the state Congress is keen on a bigger pact after deals with Trinamul for the formation of panchayat boards, Mamata is opposed to an official understanding.

“If we forge an official understanding with the Congress, we will lose votes in places where voters are opposed to its hobnobbing with the CPM,” a Trinamul leader from South 24-Parganas said.

A Trinamul survey has apparently shown that Congress supporters opposed to the party’s understanding with the CPM at the national level had voted for Trinamul in the rural polls.