Mamata in negotiations with regional leaders

In what looks like a calibrated move ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee opened channels with other regional parties soon after snapping ties with the Congress, Saubhadra Chatterji and Aurangzeb Naqshbandi report.

In what looks like a calibrated move ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee opened channels with other regional parties soon after snapping ties with the Congress.

HT Image

Top sources in the Trinamool Congress told HT that after she announced her decision to withdraw support from the UPA on Monday, Banerjee spoke to AIADMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha. “She also spoke to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik to explain her position,” said a source.

Banerjee recently held a meeting with SP leader and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in Kolkata.

Following that, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had also announced a thaw in the Trinamool-SP relationship, which had soured after Yadav decided to back UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee — leaving Banerjee in the cold.

Banerjee also got in touch with Nitish Kumar's JD(U). “She is accepted by many among opposition parties.

Clearly, she wants to utilise this opportunity to consolidate her position in the non-Congress, non-BJP space,” said a Trinamool minister.

The Congress has also prepared itself to snap all ties with the Trinamool Congress in Bengal.

If Trinamool ministers resign on Friday, six Congress ministers in Mamata's council of ministers may also put in their papers.

Meanwhile, Trinamool leader and MoS (tourism) Sultan Ahmed said here, “We have reached a point of no-return. A decision has been taken, keeping public interest in mind.”