Though CAB chief Jagmohan Dalmiya was not available for comments, reliable CAB insiders told The Indian Express today that the cricket association felt uneasy as Mamata could use the association as a political plank to wage a fresh war against Bhattacharjee.

“It’s true that Mamata has come to our rescue. She came to our defence when Kolkata Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborti began blaming us for the floodlight failure at Eden . But we are feeling uneasy with what’s happening, because at the end of the day, Mamata is simply using CAB as a political plank. The issue is actually about Mamata fighting Buddhadeb,” a senior CAB official told this newspaper.

After last Thursday’s fiasco during the India-Sri Lanka one-dayer at Eden Gardens, when lights went off for half-an-hour, the Trinamool supremo had jumped to CAB president Dalmiya’s rescue after it became clear that the city police chief had the blessings of the Chief Minister in his relentless attack on the CAB dispensation. In fact, it was Mamata, who kicked off a debate that snowballed into the current crisis.

“Daal mein kuch kaala hai (there’s something fishy about this),” Mamata had told reporters after dropping in at Eden for the match, commenting on the light failure.

Over the next week, the Kolkata Police Commissioner held Dalmiya & Co responsible for the floodlight episode, and in a sort of retaliation, the Railway Minister jumped into the bandwagon again, accusing Bhattcharjee of using the city supercop to muscle his way into the CAB.

Another senior CAB functionary told this newspaper that the association was finding itself in the middle of a political battle between the two rivals.

“People are beginning to see CAB as Mamata’s bastion on the issue. This is a scary prospect for us,” he said.