NEW DELHI/CALCUTTA, 23 April — Trinamool Congress leader, Ajit Panja, remains upset about his party’s alliance with Congress party. The Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Bannerjee, has decided to quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which cost him his berth in the central Cabinet.
During the week, he called three press conferences. “How could Mamata join hands with Pranab?” He said, “Mamata’s popularity has fallen after this alliance. They feel Mamata has betrayed the party, but there is still time. She can come out and fight alone.” Mamata has avoided comment on Panja’s allegation about her “betraying” the people of West Bengal by aligning with the Congress. She was questioned on this and she said, “This is an internal matter for our party.” Panja has also criticized her authoritarian style.
However bitter Panja may be, he has no intention of quitting the party. On being questioned about his attitude, he replied, “I will support the NDA from outside if the need arises, And I will do so even if Mamata orders me not to.” Trinamool’s chief ally Congress is also engaged in dispelling reports about the alliance proving disadvantageous.
The party’s state leader, Pranab Mukherjee, described the noise made by some angry Congressmen on being denied tickets to contest the polls as “teething” problems. He expects the issue of seat adjustment to be resolved by April 26, the last date for withdrawing nominations. Eight sitting Congress MLAs from Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), who were denied nomination tickets, are contesting. Two are independents. In Pranab’s opinion, the presence of dissident Congress MLAs will have a “very marginal impact” on polls prospects.
He also said that there was no problem in accepting Mamata as the alliance leader. She said, “It’s a problem of the Congress and we have nothing to do with it.” If the alliance breaks, insiders believe the Congress will get less than 15 seats while the Trinamool will be left in opposition.
The Left Front will reap the advantage from the break-up. In Mamata’s opinion, “Once the nomination papers are filed and the campaign begins, all the rebels will return!”
