Mamata Banerjee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi flag off a train in Delhi in December 2009

New Delhi, March 6: The Congress central leadership has made up its mind to wholeheartedly support Mamata Banerjee’s fight to dislodge the Left Front government.

The new AICC in-charge of Bengal, Shakeel Ahmed, told The Telegraph in an interview that speculation about reservations in the Congress on Mamata’s perceived domineering ways was unfounded and his party would be the happiest to see her in the saddle in Calcutta.

Excerpts from the interview follow.

Q: Is there any problem or conflict with Mamata on seat allocation?

A: There is none at all. We should understand that any political party faces enormous problems in distributing tickets for elections. There are so many aspirants. Even if you contest all the seats, there is a big section which remains unhappy as a ticket goes to only one person in a constituency.

In coalition arrangements, this problem becomes acute. You saw in Bihar how many Congressmen were unhappy even as we contested all the seats. Even the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP faced rebellion in their ranks. This is true of Bengal, too, as a large number of Congressmen are aspiring to contest.

Q: Will this high aspiration levels result in any intractable confrontation? Will there be hurdles to the smooth running of the coalition during the election?

A: Every party wants to maximise its political space and hence the tussle is natural. That, however, will not override the understanding between the two partners as the goal and the objective are the same.

Our commitment to give Bengal good governance is too sacred to be subjugated to any other consideration. Seat-sharing differences certainly won’t overshadow that aim.

Q: Will Mamata try to push the Congress into a corner because of over-assessment of her strength?

A: She is a seasoned leader and she knows Bengal better than others. She will go along with the Congress. Even for her, the prime objective is to defeat the Left.

Q: You are talking of a shared goal and objective. Does the Congress endorse Mamata’s pathological hatred for the communists? Do you share her perception about communists being violent and detrimental to national interests?

She (Mamata) is a product of the Congress culture. We have a perfect understanding Shakeel Ahmad

A: There is no denying the fact that we were with the Left at one stage. But we kept national interest above even the stability of our own government. Taking the Left’s help to defeat the communal forces has a limited purpose.

But when they wanted to block the Indo-US nuclear deal, which we thought was good for India, we didn’t succumb to their pressure. We fought their designs to pull down the UPA government.

As far as Mamata’s fight against the Left is concerned, we support it as we have ourselves fought the communists all along. We will remove the Left government in Kerala, too. There is no doubt the Left misrule for such a long time has to end in the interest of Bengal and the country.

Q: If the Left governance was so terrible, why couldn’t the Congress remove it for such a long time?

A: There were a number of reasons. The Left’s ideology might have had support among the people but its administration has been bad. They won successive elections because of cadre management, rigging, administrative support and systematic infiltration into all segments of society and all kinds of institutions. Their victories didn’t reflect mass support alone.

In fact, we can say there was no true democracy in Bengal. But people have seen through this now and decided this far and no farther. They have seen the Congress is taking the country on a high growth trajectory and launched revolutionary welfare schemes.

Q: So you are not giving any credit to Mamata for the new situation in Bengal?

A: No, she has definitely done a lot. Her sustained struggle cannot be forgotten. But nobody should forget we might have taken the Left’s help for strategic reasons at different stages but never became their partners, never contested election in alliance with them. The Congress and Trinamul are working in tandem to dislodge the Left.

Q: Do you accept that the Left is more anti-Congress than anti-BJP? Do you fear the Left can again join hands with the BJP to dislodge your government if this crisis with the DMK deepens?

A: The Left has aligned with the BJP in the past. Their real blunders were when they supported the Jansangh in 1977 and in 1989. They have a historical role in strengthening the communal forces in the country.

Even at present, they are working in tandem with the BJP. Whether they join hands with the BJP to disturb our government this time or not, people of Bengal are very intelligent. They know who the Left is helping for the last few months. They (the Left) don’t speak about the RSS link with terror and corruption in Karnataka but attack the Congress on every issue. If they form a government with the BJP at the Centre, that will be political hara-kiri.

Q: Does the Congress apprehend that a stronger Mamata, as chief minister on her own strength, will be difficult to handle? Will she behave like the DMK or Jayalalithaa, always keeping the Congress and the Centre on their toes?

A: Mamata has a Congress mind. She was part of us. She is a product of the Congress culture. We have a perfect understanding. She has proven to be a responsible partner in the UPA. We hope we will together build a new and prosperous Bengal.

Q: Does Mamata have the potential to become a good chief minister? Or Bengal will rue a mercurial street fighter as the administrative head?

A: This is not the right time to answer this question as our primary object is to throw out the Left government. Mamata will decide if she has to be the chief minister. She has proven her mettle as a good administrator in the central government. She has presented so many railway budgets without taxing the passengers. She understands the ground realities and we have no reason to disbelieve that she will be a good chief minister.