The alliance in Chennai is back on track. But for the Congress, the coalition in Kolkata is heading for tough negotiations as Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee is in no mood to bow down like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in front of the Congress’ demand for more seats. While the Congress has asked for 98 seats and is ready to settle for 70-75 seats, Banerjee’s party is in no mood to give more than 65 seats.
Banerjee has so far offered 58 seats to the Congress.
In the case of the DMK-Congress tussle, the top leadership of the two parties was constantly in touch with each other. Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, Ahmed Patel and even Sonia Gandhi from the Congress spoke to DMK leaders. In the case of the Congress-Trinamool Congress bargain game, second-rung leaders are engaged in negotiations. After just one round of meeting with Mukherjee on Saturday, Banerjee has left for Kolkata, leaving the field to her trusted lieutenant and Minister of State for Shipping, Mukul Roy, to talk with Manas Bhuiyan, the chief of West Bengal unit of the Congress.
Trinamool sources claim that Banerjee is already prepared for fighting alone in the election, something she did last year for the civic polls after talks broke down between the two sides. In their internal estimate, the Trinamool leaders think they can win at least 155 out of the 294 seats even if the party fights alone. In case of a coalition, the combined numbers can go up to even 220 seats.
Banerjee has told her close confidants that if the Congress tries to delay matters further, she will unilaterally announce her candidates leaving 58 seats for the Congress.
As it was in the case of the DMK, where the central leadership and state unit of the Congress had divergent views about coalition, in West Bengal too, there are differences of opinion in the Congress over the formula for alliance. Bhuiyan, Lok Sabha MP Deepa Dasmunshi and some other top Congress leaders want at least 70 seats from the Trinamool. But Pranab Mukherjee, who holds a key position in Bengal affairs, believes focusing on “quantity” of seats rather than its “quality” could be futile.
While Banerjee is not keen to give any seats in Kolkata (it has 11 assembly seats), the Congress is adamant on two seats from the city.
There are a lot of similarities between the Congress’ tussle with the DMK and its brinkmanship with Banerjee. But there is one major difference: Banerjee’s equation with Congress President Sonia Gandhi is far better than that of the southern party. This ‘personal bonding’ could be the deciding factor in shaping up the alliance.
