Mamata triggers 3rd front speculation

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress head Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday triggered speculations of an alliance without the Congress and the BJP while making it clear she would maintain the same distance from both the parties in the state.

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress head Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday triggered speculations of an alliance without the Congress and the BJP while making it clear she would maintain the same distance from both the parties in the state.

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However, she did not shut the door on the Congress, saying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had remarked that in politics there were no permanent friends or enemies.

She was speaking after the Trinamool candidate was declared winner in the Howrah bypoll. "This is the arithmetic of moving ahead alone. We want neither the Congress nor the BJP. Through the results of the Howrah bypolls people have endorsed our decision to move ahead alone in future," she said.