Mukherjee, who is also the chairman of a WBPCC sub-committee formed recently to select party candidates for the ensuing civic polls, held a closed-door meeting with Banerjee for nearly an hour and later told reporters he had preliminary discussions with the Trinamool chief over seat-sharing issue between the two Opposition parties.

“We want to defeat the ruling CPM in all the 82 municipalities where elections will take place soon. Earlier, I had a talk with Trinamool leader Mukul Roy and I had a talk with Mamata just now. We are determined to fight the civic polls jointly despite the CPM’s calculated move to break our alliance,” Mukherjee told reporters waiting outside Banerjee’s south Kolkata residence on Tuesday evening.

“There are only three to four months left for the municipal polls. Therefore, we want to initiate preliminary talks from now,” added Mukherjee.

Mamata, on the other hand, told reporters she was happy as the Congress leader had come to hold talks with her on the issue of seat-sharing.

“Subrata Mukherjee will also talk to our leader Partha Chatterjee, Subrata Bakshi and Mukul Roy in the coming days to finalise the joint strategy for the civic elections. The CPM would not be able to break our alliance with money power. Note Diye Jot Bhanga Jabena (It will not be possible to split the alliance with money power),” said the Trinamool chief.

Meanwhile, Mukherjee’s decision to visit Banerjee’s house stunned many state Congress heavyweights who said they were in complete dark about it.

“WBPCC president Pranab Mukherjee will hold a meeting with all the general secretaries of our party on February 8 to discuss the ensuing civic polls. We will decide our strategy after that. Naturally, I can’t tell you why Subrata Mukherjee had visited Mamata’s house,” said Pradip Bhattacharjee, WBPCC working president.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) chief Manas Bhuniya too said he had no knowledge about Mukherjee’s visit to Kalighat.

Mukherjee was the mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) when Trinamool Congress used to run the civic body. Many in the Congress circles are not pleased with his decision to visit the Trinamool chief’s house at a time when the Congress leadership has not yet decided on its strategy for fighting the civic elections.