Why Mamata Banerjee should join hands with Narendra Modi

is unusually quiet nowadays. Her idea for the federal front hasn't really taken off. The Left along with key leaders like Nitish Kumar and Mulayam Singh Yadav shared the same stage in New Delhi a few days ago where strong words were spoken against the 'communal' forces though nothing was said against the ruling coalition at the Centre led by the Congress.

Nitish & Mulayam going Left: A concern for Mamata?

This effort towards shaping the so-called Third Front yet again will definitely raise some concern in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for it drastically reduces its option at the national stage. Perhaps, Banerjee is also giving it a thought and is still making soft efforts to see a front growing somewhere. But is there any option left for her in case the Nitish Kumars and Mulayam Singh Yadavs stick to their pro-Left stance?

Given the reality of Indian politics, something like a third front must have regional forces from key states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and if Nitish and Mulayam decide to prefer the Left, Banerjee will have no other option but to join the BJP.

Banerjee's anti-Congressism is genuine and this makes her an ideal NDA ally

Banerjee should join the NDA. For she is one of those few leaders in the country today who is genuinely against the Congress and doesn't harbour a plan to make a back-door entry in the future. This is something common that she shares with Narendra Modi, who also leaves no effort to criticise the UPA government at any given moment.

The way a strong anti-incumbency wave is growing across the nation and a pro-Modi wave filling up the vacuum, one wouldn't feel surprised if Banerjee decides to join the BJP, even as a post-poll ally. Just like Modi has helped the Congress and JD(U) come together, similarly the Congress factor should hold together Modi and Mamata.

Mamata's genuine anti-Congress stand makes her a suitable ally of Narendra Modi

Mamata won't face political threats in Bengal as an NDA ally because of the political reality

Banerjee has been raising the pitch against the Centre of late on various issues, the latest being the Aadhaar card, something Modi is also doing and this should bring the two together. Banerjee, who terminated relation with the Congress last year, said she is in favour to go alone in the polls and an alliance with the BJP at the Centre won't be a bad idea for given the saffron party's weak presence in West Bengal, there will be little chance of a clash of interests between the two parties. Banerjee's relation with the Congress's top brass was impacted by her friction with the state Congress leadership but there won't be any such problem with the BJP. She can rule from her state and keep an influence on the Centre at the same time.

Mamata would remember Mulayam's U-turn of last year

Banerjee wouldn't forget the way Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav ditched her last year to tilt towards the Congress ahead of the presidential election. There is little doubt that the regional parties in UP and Bihar will continue to engage in tacit understanding with the Congress for the sake of power and vote-bank. There is little to expect from them in terms of ideology and morality.

Mamata has no point in considering vote-bank equation now for she is in a safe zone in Bengal

But Banerjee, being a politician who is loud but honest, is little likely to don the mantle of an opportunist and that makes her a suitable candidate to join Modi and add volume to the anti-Congress slogan. It will be self-defeating for Banerjee to begin considering the vote-bank equation in her state for there is little possibility of her getting defeated in her own backyard at this moment, no matter what the surveys and pre-poll analysis say.