To Rahul, with alliance 'urge' |
| Devadeep Purohit |
 On the agenda is the question whether the Congress should strike an alliance or understanding for the approaching Assembly elections and, if so, with whom. "I was going to Basirhat this morning.... My car had stopped because of traffic. People holding party flags told me that there should be an alliance with the Left. There is desperation at the grassroots to ally against Trinamul. My job is to inform the leaders about this urge. The rest, the high command will decide," said Bengal party president Adhir Chowdhury, who reached the capital late this evening. CPM leaders like Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Surjya Kanta Mishra have publicly prodded the Congress to take a decision. Trinamul leaders have ridiculed in public any such alliance but, in private, they have not entirely ruled out the possibility of a truck with the Congress. Although the Congress has remained a marginal player in the state, the last Lok Sabha poll numbers suggest it can spice up matters in a closely fought election. (See chart) "I am not expecting any announcement tomorrow.... But we hope to get some clues to the mood of the central leadership on the possibility of an alliance with the Left," said a Congress leader camping at Banga Bhavan, the state government's guesthouse in the capital. Most state leaders of the Congress are in favour of some understanding with the Left but the high command has not yet given any indication on which way it is tilting. Several factors - both national and state-specific - will be considered but the number of seats that will be set aside for the Congress in the event of a deal with either the Left or Trinamul will also be an important factor in the decision-making process.  Adhir, Rahul Around 15 leaders from Bengal, including the state unit president, past presidents, MPs, heads of frontal organisations and some senior office bearers, will meet Rahul and share their views. The party's central minder for Bengal, C.P. Joshi, will be present. Besides Chowdhury, several state Congress leaders told this newspaper that their primary focus would be on conveying to the leadership the "mood of the party workers who have been at the receiving end of a Trinamul onslaught". "We have had to deal with the CPM's politics of domination for years, but Trinamul's politics is all about elimination of the Congress. That we will highlight. Besides, we will also explain why Mamata should not be allowed to grow in strength before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls," said a source. If statistics are cited, the figures will revolve around the 2014 Lok Sabha election results. Some pro-alliance Congress leaders are trying to underscore that the Left and the Congress were cumulatively ahead in around 100 Assembly seats or segments in the last Lok Sabha elections. "The situation has changed since then as the BJP has lost ground.... If a percentage of those votes come to the alliance, our prospect will be better," said a source. But some Congress leaders are expected to ask whether a last-minute understanding would result in transfer of votes as the CPM-Congress divide has a history stretching back to decades. Besides, questions on what the Congress would gain by reviving the beleaguered Left may also be raised. Late tonight, the leaders met at Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Bhattacharya's house to discuss the talking points. |
↧
Ideological political bankruptcy axis: Left-Congi combine in vote share game. Bamboo Mamata can be beaten at the polls by BJP
↧