After retaining DMK, Congress to strengthen ties with TMC

Sonia Gandhi’s Congress is eyeing the upcoming assembly elections as an opportunity to showcase people’s faith in the Congress-led UPA in these troubled times. As the ruling coalition is under pressure over scandals and incidents of corruption, the Congress is keen to maximize its chances of victory in the assembly polls and prove that the popular support has not eroded.

After successfully retaining an irked DMK in the UPA, the Congress is now looking to iron out the differences with another temperamental ally: Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congresss. Congress’ chief troubleshooter, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will go to Kolkata on Saturday and hold talks with Banerjee for the seat adjustments in West Bengal.

“Politically, we are looking at the upcoming elections as an endorsement for the UPA. We will negotiate with our partners keeping in mind that the alliance needs to win in as many seats as possible. This will have a direct bearing on the government at the Centre. It has become more important at this time to win in all five places,” a top Congress leader told Business Standard.

Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry are going for polls from the next month.

While the Congress and the DMK faces a tough challenge from the alliance of Jayalalitha’s AIADMK and Vijayakanth’s DMDK in Tamil Nadu, in Bengal a tie-up with Trinamool will certainly brighten up its chances of victory. A three-corner contest in Assam between the Congress, the BJP and the AGP, has boosted the hopes of the party of pulling up a victory for the third consecutive time.

In the internal assessment of the party, it is likely to win in Kerala and Puducherry.

The Congress is thus, trying to overlook the pressure from the state unit in Bengal. State Congress leaders want more seats but Mukherjee’s personal view is quality matter more than its quantity. The Congress, however, is adamant that the Trinamool can’t take away its winning seats which include getting two seats from Kolkata. Banerjee has so far offered nothing for the Congress in Kolkata.

Some top state Congress leaders like the state unit president Manas Bhuiyan and Lok Sabha MP Adhir Chowdhury, who are adamant on getting at least 70-75 seats, individually met Sonia Gandhi today to convince her to pressurize Banerjee. This section is even ready to fight alone in case Trinamool doesn’t agree to its demands.

But the counter logic of the high command is that the alliance will benefit both parties and make the Congress stronger in the state. As an example of this theory, a top Congress leader pointed out that in the absence of an alliance, the Congress may win 3 seats in Murshidabad district.

If there is an alliance, the numbers can go up to 14. “Isn’t it better to win 18 seats which may include 3-4 seats of Trinamool than getting just 3 seats?” asked a top leader.