Mamata resignation boosts Cong hopes of mahajot

NEW DELHI, OCT 2: Trinamool Chief Mamata Bannerjee's resignation from the NDA government has rekindled hopes in the Congress for an anti-L...

NEW DELHI, OCT 2: Trinamool Chief Mamata Bannerjee’s resignation from the NDA government has rekindled hopes in the Congress for an anti-Left, non-BJP mahajot in West Bengal. With Mamata adamant, for the time being, on her decision to quit from the government, the Congress has renewed overtures to her for a “secular” front, in the hope that she would eventually walk out of the NDA alliance.

Party sources here said that senior leader Kamal Nath, who was earlier requisitioned by Sonia Gandhi to sort out the imbroglio in the West Bengal state unit, is “in touch” with senior Trinamool leaders as well as senior leaders of the party for thrashing out some sort of a workable agreement. Nath had played a key role in the recent change of guard in Calcutta, with senior CWC member Pranab Mukherjee replacing the ageing A B A Ghani Khan Choudhary.

The informal dialogue with Trinamool doesn’t, however, mean a shift in the high command’s position which is the same as before — there can be no mahajot with Trinamool unless Mamata snaps her ties with the BJP.

Story continues below this ad

Pranab Mukherjee, though not as close to the Trinamool as his predecessor, has also been asked by Sonia to keep a close watch on the state’s developments. The objective of sending him as PCC chief was to make it clear that the Congress was not up for grabs in the state and that a mahajot was possible only if Mamata quit the NDA alliance.

At the root of the Congress’ optimism for an eventual mahajot with Trinamool for next year’s assembly elections are the state’s political ground realities. The party hopes that Mamata, who has her eyes set on the state, will realise that fighting the Left along side the Congress offers her a better chance to make it to the Writers’ Building than allying against it. This is because both parties are targetting the anti-Left vote which will get divided in case no alliance comes through, making Mamata the bigger loser. There is also the issue of minority votes which are mostly still with the Congress.

In this context, senior party leader P R Dasmunshi’s statement in Calcutta yesterday that he was in favour of a non-Left, non-BJP front under the leadership of Mamata assumes significance since it manifests the eagerness of the Congress to wean the Trinamool away from the NDA. Dasmunshi’s candid statement, has, however, not been well-recieved by the party high command here since a section of the central leadership thinks that the Congress shouldn’t be seen as desperate and grovelling before for an alliance.

“The need for an alliance with us is on Mamata’s side also…she knows it will be difficult for her without us and for us to act desperate will only raise her stakes,” a senior party leader here said, adding that Dasmunshi should have allowed Pranab as PCC chief to make the party line clear.

Story continues below this ad

Party sources here, however, said that the high command wasn’t altogether averse to Mamata leading the mahajot if it came into being, even though this would mean projecting her as the Front’s chief ministerial candidate. In that event, Pranab would probably be withdrawn as the PCC chief, going by his seniority, and a relatively younger leader installed in his place.