Mamata eyes Jharkhand votes

Buoyed by the Trinamool Congress’ success in the just-concluded Arunachal Pradesh elections in which it won five seats, party chief Mamata Banerjee has decided to field candidates in the upcoming Jharkhand elections as well. Even as the Congress is irked by Banerjee’s zeal as her party eats into its votebank, Banerjee is determined to make the Trinamool a registered national party by increasing its vote share in other states. The two parties are partners in the United Progressive Alliance but Banerjee is yet to decide if the Trinamool will support the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh or sit in the opposition. Banerjee is also looking at constituencies in the East Singhbhum area — with a considerable Bengali population — as her target constituencies in Jharkhand.