Mamata candidate list causes BJP heartburn

Kolkata, Mar 13 (UNI) Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee today announced names of 201 candidates of the West Bengal Democratic Front, leaving the BJP aggrieved and stoking speculations for a silent understanding with the Congress.

Releasing the list of candidates, Ms Banerjee said out of the 201 seats, the Trinamool Congress alone would contest in 193 while eight had been allocated for Front partners Janta Dal(U), JKP(N), SSP, SJP(N), NCP and the SGP. Altogether 93 seats had been kept for the NDA ally and the Congress awaiting their participation in an opposition alliance.

''Though we have decided to keep 53 seats vacant for the Congress and 23 seats for the BJP on the basis of our previous discussion with their leadership, I have kept provision for more keeping doors open for further seat adjustments with them,'' Ms Banerjee said.

Mamata's move came as a surprise since her party was still having dialogues on seat sharing with the BJP. The meeting between the Trinamool Chief and BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley ended inclonclusive on March eleven following differences between the two sides, particularly on the question of 14 seats which the BJP wanted.

Describing Ms Banerjee's move as 'unilateral', BJP state President Tathagata Roy said his party would not accept any 'doles' from the Trinamool.

''We have strong reservation against the list and demand that it be reviewed,'' he said.

Though the Congress had officially announced that the party would not strike an alliance with the Trinamool as long as Ms Banerjee kept truck with the BJP, the leadership huddled in Delhi recently after the visit of AICC General Secretary Margaret Alva to explore possibility for adjustment without sacrificing the party's national policy.

Refusing to comment, Pradesh Congress Working President Pradip Bhattacharjee said the party was keeping watch on the situation. ''We will discuss the issue at the PCC meeting on March 15,'' he said.

PCC President Pranab Mukherjee had two rounds of talks with Ms Banerjee to discuss her proposal for a grand alliance. He appealed to the Trinamool leader to come out of NDA and lead a ''secular non-left opposition front'' which Ms Banerjee refused to accept.

The Trinamool leadership had repeatedly asserted that the party would not break away from the NDA and ditch the long time friend BJP. But the party's latest move appeared to be an attempt to frustrate the BJP bargain without severing ties and leaving a long rope for the Congress, the second largest opposition in the state.

Though Ms Banerjee appeared to have kept more seats for the BJP than it wanted, none of the constituency which the NDA partner tried to bargain for had been given.

Eds. please pick up from para one of CA 29, ''Election-Mamata- Candidates list two last Kolkata''.

Also releasing the election manifesto of the Trinamool Congress Ms Banerjee said of the 193 candidates of her party 32 were women and 31 belonged to the minority community. All the 52 AITC members of the state Assembly, including the opposition leader Pankaj Banerjee, had been renominated from their same constituencies. However, only in case of four MLAs the constituencies have been changed after discussing all pros and cons and taking their individual consent about it, the Trinamool Congress supremo said adding that among them were Mr Dipak Ghosh who has been pitted against Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee for the prestigious Jadavpur seat. During the earlier election Mr Ghosh had won from the Mahisadal seat in West Midnapore district.

Same is the case of AITC Youth leader Sanjay Bakshi who has been asked to fight against former City Mayor Subrata Mukherjee of the Congress in another prestigious seat in central Kolkata, Chowringhee, Ms Banerjee informed.

Elaborating her stand about the Congress as well as the BJP,one of her major electoral allies in the Democratic Front,the Trinamool Congress Chief said during the last assembly poll when Congress was the only electoral partner of the AITC, the former were allocated 60 seats. But this time despite the presence of 13 electoral allies as many as 53 seats were kept open for them.

About the BJP,she said so far 23 seats were kept reserved for them and made it clear that following some rounds of discussions, the number might go up, as well as that of the Congress.

However, the doors are still open for further discussion with both of them, she said in defence of her decision to keep 93 seats vacant so far. But at the same time she also made it clear that her Front would not wait endlessly with the first round of elections remaining only a month away on April 17.

Highliting the salient features of her election manifesto Ms Banerjee said in order to ensure an all round speedy socio-economic growth of the state, major stress would be given on creation of more job opportunities through industrialisation and agricultural growth.

Also announcing her decision to scrap the VAT from the state if returned to power, Ms Banerjee quoting from the AITC's election manifesto promised major growth in SSI sector.

Lambasting the state government for giving awayhuge chunk of agricukltural land for industrialisation, Ms Banerjee said the AITC would not allow indfustrial growth at the cost of agriculture and the farming comunity.

She also severely criticised the state government's stand on hawkers and said a formal complaint about the violation of electoral code of conduct by the ruling party at the Salt Lake stadium yesterday in terms of poll announcement, would be brought to the notice of the Eelection Commission by her party.

Among others AITC General Secretary Mukul Ghosh and the party's Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Divwediwere pressent.

UNI