Upset Bengal Cong leaders call Mamata pact an insult

If the electoral alliance between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress has left the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee leaders fuming and demoralised, Mamata Banerjee’s decision to field fresh faces to break the cartel of local leaders has created tension in her party. Arindam Sarkar reports.

If the electoral alliance between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress has left the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) leaders fuming and demoralised, Mamata Banerjee’s decision to field fresh faces to break the cartel of local leaders has created tension in her party.

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PCC leaders feel the alliance with Mamata at the cost of making the Congress contest only in 65 of the 294 Assembly seats is an insult to the party.

Congress MPs, like Adhir Chowdhury of Murshidabad and Deepa Dasmunshi of Uttar Dinajpur, and senior PCC leaders, like Shankar Singh of Nadia, Debi Ghoshal and Asit Majumdar of North 24 Parganas and Nepal Mahato of Purulia, have strongly resented the seat-sharing pact. “We will not accept this deal and will field candidates against the Trinamool and the CPM,” said a senior PCC leader.

A similar situation had arisen in 2001, when Mamata had given only 57 seats to the Congress. An angry Congress fielded 100 independent candidates to queer Mamata’s pitch.

Meanwhile, in the Trinamool too, there is resentment over the choice of candidates. District leaders said their recommendations were overlooked.

They cite East Midnapore, where Trinamool general secretary and Union MoS for shipping Mukul Roy and local leaders Sisir and Suvendu Adhikaris are at loggerheads over the choice of candidates. Banerjee, however, said, “No matter what people say, we have given nomination to fresh faces who are hardworking and acceptable to the people. There is no resentment. The best candidate has got the chance to contest.”