“We are in the opposition in Delhi. We cannot side with the Union Government because it is supported by the CPM. But in the state, we are strong enough to fight elections. Balagarh has proved that as we received 40 per cent of the votes polled,” Banerjee said after a PSDF meeting held at Trinamool Bhavan.

She also hinted that she did not want the Congress in her Front. “I want those in my Front who are genuinely against the CPM. Those who are neither here nor there are not welcome,” she said. When asked about Left Front partners joining PSDF, Banerjee said, “I shall be happy if they join our Front.” Asked whether she would talk to veteran Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghose who had strongly criticised CPM for wooing private capital for industrialisation of the state, she said, “Wait for some time.”

Banerjee maintained that she was not for capitalism or socialism, but for the people of the state. On the by-election at Balagarh, which was won by the CPM, she said that CPM’s vote share has gone down by 10,000.

She, however, disagreed that the split in Opposition votes would help the Marxists and said that despite a four-cornered contest in Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party had swept the Assembly polls.