On talent hunt: Trinamool eyeing states where Congress has weakened

Is there a strategy behind all these moves? Is the Trinamool Congress the new Congress? And what will this do to broader Opposition unity?

There was a time when the extent of the Trinamool Congress’ (TMC’s) and its leader Mamata Banerjee’s ambition was to win the Gorkha vote in West Bengal. Of the 294 seats in the Assembly, the votes of people of Nepalese origin in the so-called Gorkhaland electorally matter in just three — in and around Darjeeling. Gorkhas of Bengal have been ambivalent to all the national parties because they feel threatened by the 'Bangla-ness' of all political forces in Bengal and fear their distinctive Nepali identity (especially marked by language) would be stamped out.  To protect this, many parties have come