Pranab Mukerjee

KOLKATA: Formation of a "mahajot" (grand alliance) to prevent a division in the anti-Left Front vote in the West Bengal Assembly elections dissipated after a meeting between Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, late on Saturday night. The two stood firm in their resolve not to make concessions.

Their uncompromising stand notwithstanding, both, however, fell short of calling off the move to forge an alliance of sorts. Both put up a brave front at the end of the meeting and insisted that there was still room for discussions to fight united the Left Front.

Echoing the decision of the All-India Congress Committee at its recent plenary in Hyderabad against any electoral alliance which involved the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr. Mukherjee, who is also president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, reportedly reiterated at the meeting that his party would welcome an anti-Left alliance, provided Ms. Banerjee disassociated herself from the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP.

The BJP is nowhere in the reckoning in the race for the honours in the State.

Mamata Banerjee

The Trinamool leader ruled out such a possibility even as she maintained that her efforts to get the Congress yield to some electoral arrangement between the two parties that could minimise the impact of a division in the anti-Left vote would continue.

Though the possibility of her ensuring a ``one-to-one'' contest against the Left Front in the coming polls is appearing increasingly improbable Ms. Banerjee remains in search of allies within the Congress such as veteran leader A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury who have endorsed her argument for direct contests against candidates put up by the Left Front.

What she has made clear is that with the idea of a formal "mahajot" falling flat, electoral adjustments in as many constituencies as possible are still worth working for. The "mahajot" is a working concept in Mr. Chowdhury's home district of Malda where the alliance is in control of the zilla parishad.

This was the second time in less than a month that the two leaders had met to deliberate on the issue, both under pressure from sections within their respective parties to come to an agreement over seat sharing in the elections.

Speaking to The Hindu senior leaders of both parties have agreed that the task of taking on the might of the Left Front on their own is a formidable one.

The Left Front leadership has remained undaunted over the prospects of a "mahajot" against the Left Veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu has been repeatedly cautioning against a tacit electoral understanding between the Congress and the Trinamool on the lines of the one in Malda district.

Tie-up possible: Das Munsi

PTI reports from Raiganj:

The Congress would strive till the ``very last moment'' for a political understanding with the Trinamool Congress, said Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Das Munsi.

``We are ready for a political understanding in seats which will not be contested by the BJP, which fields candidates for only about 30 out of the total 294 constitencies,'' he told newsmen at Rajganj on Sunday.

Mr. Munshi's statement comes on the heels of Ms. Banerjee's statement on Saturday that a formula could be worked out for putting up a one-to-one contest against the CPI (M).

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