State BJP chief Satyabrata Mookherjee said there has been no formal communication from the Trinamool yet about the party severing ties with the NDA.

“The alliance was formed through certain formalities and if it has to be broken, it has to be done in a proper way. We can’t consider media reports as her final decision,” Mookherjee said.

The Congress too sounded hopeful for an alliance with the Trinamool. Speaking on the withdrawal of its candidate in Bishnupur, Pradip Bhattacharya, the working president of the state Congress, said: “It is a positive signal for future seat adjustments between the two parties for taking on the CPM-led Left Front in the Lok Sabha polls in the state.”

“It’s true she has not attended any of the NDA meetings in the past three years but that does not mean that she is not a part of the NDA,” Mookherjee said referring to Banerjee’s statement that her party had severed all ties with the NDA.