Mamata dares Congress, declares candidates
Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced the names of candidates for 228 seats leaving 64 for Congress in West Bengal assembly polls, daring the latter to come up with a decision by Monday as an official seat-sharing logjam with their partner at the centre persisted.
Mamata Banerjee declared the names at a press conference amid earlier reports that Congress could agree to a poll alliance after days of haggling over seats.
“We have kept 64 seats for Congress since the door for an alliance is still open. They are a big party but in Bengal we are the main party,” she said.
Mamata did not leave any seat for Congress in Kolkata, despite such demands by the latter.
“We waited for 18 days since announcement of polls because we are for alliance. We have sent our representative to them again and again and also I went myself as you know,” she said.
She thus threw a gauntlet to the Congress by calling another press conference on Monday, which can be interpreted as her press meet to name candidates for seats she had earmarked for Congress.
“We have tried to accommodate people from all walks of life,” said Mamata Banerjee, as she quoted the famous Bengali poets.
Actors Debasree Roy and Chiranjit Chatterjee, theatre personality Bratya Basu, FICCI general secretary and Padma Shree recipient Amit Mitra, former West Bengal chief secretary Manish Gupta are some of the notable names in the list.
Some former senior cops and academicians also made it to the list while Rukbanur Rahman, brother Rizwanur Rahman who died mysteriously after marrying a Hindu industrialist’s daughter, also was nominated by the party.
Trinamool Congress left two seats for its alliance partner Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), a left party outside the ruling Left Front.
Mahua Moitra, a former JP Morgan vice-president in the UK, is also fighting the polls after she switched over to the party of Mamata from Congress.
Amit Mitra is pitted against state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta at Kharda constituency.
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee had earlier set a Thursday deadline for the Congress to reach an agreement with her party over sharing constituencies to contest on for the coming state elections.
Later the chances of a seat sharing arrangement brightened after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi sent the message that she would like to keep the alliance in West Bengal.
So Banerjee did not jump her guns and showed restraint after earlier indicating that the TMC might announce names of candidates for the seats it has earmarked for itself on Thursday.
She announced it on Friday.
A meeting between Banerjee and the Congress? Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday failed to chalk out a seat sharing formula between the two awkward allies, the TMC?s firebrand leader seemed to have run out patience.
West Bengal is going to vote from Apr 18, in six phases, for its 294-seat Assembly, in a watershed election with the ruling communists facing the most difficult poll battle of its tenure owing to the growing strength of Mamata Banerjee’s party and setbacks over its land acquisition policies.
The Congress is said to have asked Banerjee to wait till Mar 21 but the Union railways minister, whose party is biggest ally of the Congress at the Centre, had refused to oblige and reportedly said if no agreement was reached she would announce the seats herself.
Mamata earlier had said she would not declare the names before Holi, but she did so a day ahead.
The Congress on Thursday had huddled to discuss the views of its leaders in the state but refused to take a decision. Congress state president Manas Bhunia said, “We cannot take any decision in Kolkata. We are a national party after all.”
From London, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said she wanted an alliance with the TMC in the state.
Analysts had predicted that the talks were unlikely to be very smooth with both the parties, who share an alliance at the Centre, wanting to play a hardball.
Congress had earlier asked for 90 seats.
