It’s Mamata vs Left once more

Mamata’s opponents are again acknowledging her importance and admit she holds the key to a viable front that can hold the Left off, barely a year after she was written off after faring dismally in Lok Sabha polls.

Kolkata Mayor Subrata Mukherjee recently added to her woes by forming a separate outfit that joined hands with the Congress.

Mukherjee wanted the Trinamool to be part of a “grand alliance” of Opposition parties to take on the Left, but as in previous elections, such an alliance proved a non-starter. Mamata refused to join the alliance if the Congress was part of it, pointing to the support it receives from the Left at the Centre.

With her stand, Mamata has again established herself as the only truly anti-Left force in West Bengal. Congress leaders privately admit that the Trinamool chief could emerge as a viable opposition to the Left, something it has failed to do itself.

Battle for Kolkata

Kolkata: On the eve of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls, neither the CPI(M) or the Trinamool Congress are hopeful of a clear majority.

The Left Front considers that 66 seats are certain, but the remaining five that it needs to secure a majority in the 141-seat KMC will prove tough. So it’s solution: send special forces to these wards.

Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamool held 57 seats, is desperately trying to retain them all and overcome the loss caused by Subrata Mukherjee splitting from the party.

For the Congress, which won 15 seats last time, the prestige of Somen Mitra, arch rival of Subrata, is at stake. The two old rivals are fighting under the united umbrella of the UDA this time. —ENS