Pranab rules out adjustment with Trinamool

Kolkata, Mar 5 (UNI) West Bengal Pradesh Congress President Pranab Mukherjee today brushed aside any possibility of a poll pact with the Trinamool Congress and said his party would fight the West Bengal Assembly elections leading its own alliance.

''I do not know anything about grand alliance. It is with our own alliance that we are forming an electoral coalition,'' he said.

Talking to reporters after a meeting with the representatives of seven allies of the Congress-led United Democratic Alliance at the Pradesh Congress office, Mr Mukherjee said the party's list of candidates was expected to be announced by the AICC on March 17 or 18.

In today's meeting, Congress came to adjustment for 45 seats with the allies--PDS, LJS, RPI, UCPI, JMM, FB(Jayanta Roy) and Jharkhand Party(Naren Hansda). The PCC would make a final selection of party candidates on March 15 before sending it to AICC for approval, Mr Mukherjee said.

The partners of UDA had agreed to prepare a Common Minimum Programme(CMP) for which a committee had been set up, he said.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said his party would come to a final arrangement for seat sharing with the Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee in the next two-three days and measures would be taken to ensure that there was no split in anti-left votes.

''Our party's General Secretary Arun Jaitley, who is in charge of West Bengal will come here very soon and a final deal will be clinched in the next two-three days. Mr Jaitley will ensure that anti-left votes are not divided,'' he said while answering questions at a press conference here.

Denying that the process of seat sharing between the BJP and Trinamool was being delayed, Mr Joshi said ''strategic talks'' were going on and the cards would be revealed ''when opportunities come''.

Taking a dig at the Congress for staying away from the proposed grand alliance, Mr Joshi said the Congress had always been ''famous for doing injuries to the state''.

UNI KDG BA YA BD1934