Kolkata, July 29 (Inditop.com) With both Trinamool Congress and Congress putting up candidates in state Assembly by-polls to two seats in West Bengal, fissures have developed in their four-month-long alliance that decimated the ruling Left Front in the Lok Sabha polls.
The Aug 18 by-elections to the Bowbazar and Sealdah constituencies in the metropolis have been necessitated because two legislators have now become Trinamool Congress MPs in the April-May parliamentary elections.
While Bowbazar legislator Sudip Bandopadhyay triumphed from Kolkata North, Sealdah lawmaker Somen Mira went to the Lok Sabha from Diamond Harbour.
The Congress has staked its claim on the ground that both Bandopadhyay and Mitra were elected to the assembly as its party’s nominees in the 2006 elections, before they switched allegiance to the Trinamool in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.
On the other hand, the Trinamool has built its case around the argument that with both the leaders crossing over to its fold, the party has become the major anti-Left Front force in the two adjoining areas. Both leaders have strong base in their respective constituencies.
While Bandopadhyay managed a lead from Bowbazar even when he contested as an independent nominee from erstwhile Kolkata North West parliamentary seat in 2004, former state Congress president Mitra won Sealdah constituency seven times.
The Trinamool camp also cites the massive lead taken by Bandopadhyay in the Kolkata North Lok Sabha seat from both the assembly segments.
While Trinamool wants to fight both the seats, the Congress has asked for any one of the two seats.
“We want to continue the alliance with the Trinamool. We have left the matter to our high command. If they ask us, we will contest both or even one. But we want one seat at least, leaving the other to the Trinamool,” said state Congress working president Subrata Mukherjee.
None of the Trinamool leaders was prepared to say anything on record about the discord, as party chief Mamata Banerjee was away in Delhi.
However, a top Trinamool leader pointed out that the party has been traditionally strong in Kolkata, as also South Bengal. “Where is the Congress base here? These two leaders have been winning from these seats because of their personal profile in the areas. Now they are with us. So, nobody can deny our claim.”
With Wednesday the last date for filing nomination, Mitra’s wife Sikha has filed papers on a Trinamool ticket from Sealdah, while the party nominated Swarnakamal Saha from Bowbazar.
The Congress has asked Pradip Ghosh to file as a candidate from both seats, and asked Santosh Pathak to enter the fray from Bowbazar as a back-up candidate.
In case the Trinamool agrees to give one seat to the Congress, then Ghosh will contest from the constituency allotted to the party, while Pathak will withdraw.
But if the talks fail, then Ghosh will be in the race from Sealdah and Pathak from Bowbazar.
All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of the state K. Keshava Rao however hoped the problem will be sorted out.
“Today is the last date of nominations. They have filed for both constituencies. We are also doing so. But that doesn’t mean the alliance has broken. Don’t come to such conclusions. Because discussions are going on, so both parties have filed nominations. There is time till the last day of withdrawal to come to an understanding,” Rao told reporters in New Delhi.
“My request to Mamataji is we are natural allies. We will work together. Let the alliance continue for ever.”
The two parties together won 25 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the recent polls, reducing the LF to its lowest tally of 15 seats in the last 32 years.
