Vice-president of the State BJP, Muzaffar Khan, told The Indian Express today that the party will send the complaint to Advani, detailing how the Trinamool Congress leader had abused Tapan Sikdar, Bengal BJP president and the party's first-ever MP from the State. Sikdar and Mamata Banerjee have been trading charges against each other before and after the two parties joined hands to fight the Communist Party of India in the Lok Sabha elections. But the two sides drifted apart after the two leaders stuck to their positions over seat-sharing talks for the coming panchayat polls.

As for Sikdar, the final blow came in an interview Mamata gave to a popular Bengali journal last week, in which she accused the former of ``being a BJP man during the day and a CPM leader at night.'' She was also reported to have said that shecould get Sikdar removed from the State BJP president's post if she wanted it.

``No party leader with self-respect can tolerate this,'' Muzaffar Khan said. Clippings of her "derogatory" remarks against Sikdar and the BJP will be sent to Advani along with the letter.

``Sikdar alone is responsible for the breakdown of the panchayat seat-sharing talks,'' complained Mamata's close lieutenant and Trinamool Congress MP, Sudip Bandyopadhyay. It was now ``final'', he said, that the two parties would fight each other in the panchayat polls. After meeting district leaders of her party yesterday, Mamata announced that the TC would field candidates for all seats. Sikdar, too, asked the BJP's district leaders to do the same after the party's two-day State Committee meeting last weekend.

The tie-up broke down despite efforts by soft-liners on both sides who met several times to thrash out the issue. ``But we may try for an understanding again for the next Assembly polls,'' Sudip Bandyopadhyay said, ``And we willtake the panchayat polls as a trial of strength.''

Incidentally, the two parties fought each other for the Midnapore Lok Sabha seat and two Assembly constituencies - Galsi and Jagatdal - for which by-elections were held in February. The BJP was ahead of the TC in Midnapore and Galsi, both rural constituencies, but lagged behind in Jagatdal, an industrial area close to Calcutta. Meanwhile, the Bahujan Samaj Party's State unit has shown a keenness to join Mamata's Save Bengal Front. Leaders of the party met Sudip Bandypadhyay today and made a formal request to him in this regard. The matter is likely to be finalised when BSP leader, Kanshi Ram, meets Mamata here tomorrow.