Pre-poll jitters for the TMC

It rained midweek in Kolkata, but that offered little relief to the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is already feeling the electoral heat. On Tuesday, the ruling party sought early Assembly elections, ostensibly before the summer heat intensified and dissuaded voters from leaving their homes. A delegation led by party vice-president Mukul Roy met Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Kumar Gupta and told him that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was in favour of the polls starting by late March and ending by April. Roy explained that May was not the ideal time to hold elections. The reversal in the party's stand - it had earlier agreed to hold the Assembly polls in late May - prompted the Opposition to claim that the TMC'S demand was aimed at thwarting a likely Left-Congress alliance from taking shape.