Pro-Mahajot Congmen call for unity meet

Pro-Mahajot Congmen call for unity meet
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Kolkata, Feb 26: The Trinamool Congress-BJP combine is yet to begin seat sharing talks for the coming Assembly election in West Bengal even as its main political opponent CPI-M-led Left Front has announced its candidate list for the poll yesterday.

State BJP President Ashim Ghose told PTI here today that the talks with party's electoral ally Trinamool Congress were likely to start in the first week of March.

Stating that BJP would not resort to any hard bargaining for seats, he said that the main target would be to defeat the CPI-M-led ruling Front.

The state BJP Chief who refused to say how many seats his party would demand for the coming Assembly election, said that his party would give stress on the seats where BJP candidates have the chance of winning.

The two allies would also have their joint election manifesto, he said.

Apart from Ghose, the other members of the BJP team which would hold negotiation with TC, were state party Vice- Presidents Muzaffar Khan and P D Chitlangia besides its General Secretary Pratap Banerjee.

Meanwhile, the pro-Mahajot Congress leaders have called a `Congress unity convention' here on March four to chalk out their next course of action.

A prominent pro-Mahajot leader and state Congress Vice-President Saugata Roy said that in the convention they might take certain `hard decision', if the party high command `failed' to achieve any progress regarding putting up a one-to-one fight against the ruling front by that time.

Roy who had a talk with AICC General Secretary in charge the state Kamal Nath two days back, said that there was no progress so far about any adjustment with Trinamool Congress.

Party insiders said that Roy and a few more Congress MLAs might announce their decision to join Trinamool Congress during the convention.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders owing allegiance to veteran leader A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury, a supporter of Mahajot, were still hopeful of talks between Ghani Khan and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee.

CLP Chief Whip Abdul Mannan said that Ghani Khan who was camping in Delhi, would discuss the issue of grand alliance, with Banerjee. If the Trinamool Congress Chief was serious about forming such alliance, some ways could be found out to defeat the CPI-M-led Left Front, he said.