Cong mulls over Trinamool’s proposal of grand alliance

NEW DELHI, APRIL 4: The Congress is unlikely to do anything in a hurry on the question of the proposed tie-up with Trinamool Congress in W...

NEW DELHI, APRIL 4: The Congress is unlikely to do anything in a hurry on the question of the proposed tie-up with Trinamool Congress in West Bengal as Assembly elections are a year away.

Congress leaders from the State A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury and Somen Mitra met party chief Sonia Gandhi this morning after which they said a “grand alliance” with the Trinamool Congress would be forged “without compromising on the party’s ideology.” Party spokesman Ajit Jogi told reporters that further talks between the AICC general secretary in charge of West Bengal and State unit leaders would continue to discuss the proposal for the alliance.

But he added that this would not be at the cost of compromising the Congress’ ideology which simply put means that an alliance with the Trinamool Congress is ruled out if the latter continued to remain in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). “Do you think I am a fool to talk to Mamata (Banerjee) without the permission of Sonia Gandhi. We have hundred per cent blessings of her (Gandhi),” Chowdhury told reporters after he along with Mitra met the Congress chief.

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While Chowdhury claimed that he had been authorised by Gandhi to speak to Banerjee, Jogi gave no confirmation of that. “Chowdhury is a senior leader and he can have discussions with anybody,” he said. Chowdhury said there was nothing secret about the talks with Banerjee. “Ours is not a fascist party. We require further discussions with her,” he added.

Chowdhury and Mitra said they were satisfied with the talks they had with Gandhi who was briefed about their discussions with Banerjee on Monday night. “Our talks with Gandhi were inconclusive and we will meet her again,” they said. Mitra said they suggested to the party chief that the talks on the issue of alliance with the Trinamool Congress be left to the PCC and she gave them the go-ahead.

Describing Banerjee as a “ray of hope” for West Bengal, Chowdhury said her achievement was to have thought of the “grand alliance” to fight the “tyranny” of the CPI(M). Besides these two leaders, several PCC office-bearers met Gandhi separately. They expressed dissatisfaction over the functioning of PCC working president Priyaranjan Dasmunshi and demanded that this post be abolished.

Meanwhile, Banerjee today said that her proposal for a grand alliance or mahajot against the CPI(M)-led Government in Bengal no way threatened her party’s alliance with the BJP. “I will remain loyal to the NDA,” she said. “There is a desperate need for all parties to come together on one platform to fight the CPI(M). Those who do not join the mahajot will not be forgiven by the people. State politics has nothing to do with national politics,” she said, addressing a press conference.

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On being asked if she was being made the “hyphen” between the Congress and the BJP, the smiling Mamata said that she was a small party worker but “somebody has to bell the cat.” The State BJP had already welcomed the move and there seemed no opposition from the Congress either, she said.

There were two Congress MLAs with her — Paresh Pal, president of West Bengal Youth Congress Committee, and Shanker Singh — at the press conference. “It is a matter of state politics and the central politics has nothing to do with this,” Pal said.

If the party high command did not allow this, then there was the possibility of a “bifurcation” in the party unit, he said. “The CPI(M) in Bengal is more communal than the BJP,” he added.