03-16-2006, 10:16 PM
Deccan Chronicle, 16 March 2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Mamata plan on tieup misfires
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New Delhi/Kolkata, March 15: <b>Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjeeâs calculation of keeping 70 seats free for the Congress in West Bengal for the upcoming Assembly polls and only conceding 23 seats to her ally, the BJP, has misfired. </b>
The BJP is upset with Ms Banerjeeâs clear preference for an alliance, whether formal or informal, with the Congress. <b>Ms Banerjee has not named any candidates from 70 seats and has given 23 seats to the BJP and 8 to smaller allies like JD-U(2), SSP(1), PBGP(1), SJP(1), (Jharkhand Party-Naren(1), SGP(1), and Independent (1). The BJP that had been demanding 74 seats had agreed to Ms Banerjeeâs offer of 40 seats.</b>
<b>The Trinamul chief has now pared down her offer to 23 seats. </b>The BJP could have swallowed its pride and accepted even less than 23 seats if it had been given seats of its choice. <b>Out of the 23 seats allotted to the BJP, only two were on the wish-list which the party had submitted to Ms Banerjee.</b> The West Bengal Assembly has 294 seats and the Trinamul on Monday announced that it would contest 193 seats.
It left 23 seats for the BJP and eight for its recently floated Gana Front partners. As of now, it has not announced any names for 70 remaining seats. Ms Banerjee had indicated that she had informally allotted 53 seats to the Congress during her talks with AICC general secretary and incharge of West Bengal Margaret Alva.
However, sources indicated that Ms Banerjee could increase that offer to 70 seats. Ms Banerjee has fielded 31 Muslim candidates. âThis is aimed at washing off the stains of her alliance with the BJP,â a party functionary added.<b> The Congress, however, rejected Ms Banerjeeâs appeal to forge an anti-Left alliance.</b> The party on Wednesday stuck to its stand that it would not ally with the Trinamul unless it quit the NDA.
âIt is the Congress policy to have no truck with the BJP or any other NDA partner and the Trinamul continues to be in the NDA,â defence minister and West Bengal PCC chief Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata. Mr Mukherjee, who attended a meeting of the PCC election committee along with senior party leaders P.R. Das Munshi and A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury, said the party along with its allies would contest all the 294 seats in the State and a list of candidates was being finalised.
Mr Mukherjee said that he would give the Trinamul time till the filing of nominations to quit the NDA.
âTrinamul will definitely be given time to leave the BJPâs company,â he said. In that eventuality, he added, the Congress would review its decision. âIf the Trinamul leaves the NDA, then we will not field candidates in all the seats. We will contest in a lesser number of seats.â
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Mamata plan on tieup misfires
Â
New Delhi/Kolkata, March 15: <b>Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjeeâs calculation of keeping 70 seats free for the Congress in West Bengal for the upcoming Assembly polls and only conceding 23 seats to her ally, the BJP, has misfired. </b>
The BJP is upset with Ms Banerjeeâs clear preference for an alliance, whether formal or informal, with the Congress. <b>Ms Banerjee has not named any candidates from 70 seats and has given 23 seats to the BJP and 8 to smaller allies like JD-U(2), SSP(1), PBGP(1), SJP(1), (Jharkhand Party-Naren(1), SGP(1), and Independent (1). The BJP that had been demanding 74 seats had agreed to Ms Banerjeeâs offer of 40 seats.</b>
<b>The Trinamul chief has now pared down her offer to 23 seats. </b>The BJP could have swallowed its pride and accepted even less than 23 seats if it had been given seats of its choice. <b>Out of the 23 seats allotted to the BJP, only two were on the wish-list which the party had submitted to Ms Banerjee.</b> The West Bengal Assembly has 294 seats and the Trinamul on Monday announced that it would contest 193 seats.
It left 23 seats for the BJP and eight for its recently floated Gana Front partners. As of now, it has not announced any names for 70 remaining seats. Ms Banerjee had indicated that she had informally allotted 53 seats to the Congress during her talks with AICC general secretary and incharge of West Bengal Margaret Alva.
However, sources indicated that Ms Banerjee could increase that offer to 70 seats. Ms Banerjee has fielded 31 Muslim candidates. âThis is aimed at washing off the stains of her alliance with the BJP,â a party functionary added.<b> The Congress, however, rejected Ms Banerjeeâs appeal to forge an anti-Left alliance.</b> The party on Wednesday stuck to its stand that it would not ally with the Trinamul unless it quit the NDA.
âIt is the Congress policy to have no truck with the BJP or any other NDA partner and the Trinamul continues to be in the NDA,â defence minister and West Bengal PCC chief Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata. Mr Mukherjee, who attended a meeting of the PCC election committee along with senior party leaders P.R. Das Munshi and A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury, said the party along with its allies would contest all the 294 seats in the State and a list of candidates was being finalised.
Mr Mukherjee said that he would give the Trinamul time till the filing of nominations to quit the NDA.
âTrinamul will definitely be given time to leave the BJPâs company,â he said. In that eventuality, he added, the Congress would review its decision. âIf the Trinamul leaves the NDA, then we will not field candidates in all the seats. We will contest in a lesser number of seats.â
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