Kamal Nath to mediate with Trinamool

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 25. The AICC general secretary in-charge of West Bengal, Mr. Kamal Nath, is likely to leave for Kolkata tomorrow to initiate seat-sharing talks with the Trinamool Congress. He will team up with the WBPCC chief, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, already in the city and begin the negotiations with the TMC.

The two leaders are expected to lay the foundation for the alliance with the Trinamool, which will be finalised once the Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, returns from her three-day visit to Hong Kong on Wednesday.

It is not surprising that Mr. Kamal Nath has been entrusted with the task of initiating talks with Ms. Mamata Banerjee.

Not only does he share a good rapport with the Trinamool chief, he enjoys good ties with the big three in the Bengal Congress - Mr. Mukherjee, Mr. Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi and Mr. Ghani Khan Chaudhary.

Mr. Kamal Nath's choice as the interlocutor along with Mr. Mukherjee is in keeping with Ms. Gandhi's style.

She prefers to leave the nitty gritty of seat-sharing adjustments to her colleagues, preferably the general secretary in-charge of the State concerned and the PCC president.

Though the Congress had maintained back-channel contacts with Ms. Banerjee for some time, the plan for a tie-up between the two received a fillip yesterday after the Trinamool chief indicated she was ready for a possible seat-sharing arrangement against the Left parties. The Congress had always been ready to ally with the Trinamool to defeat the CPI(M).

Hit by desertions in its Bengal unit, the Congress was in danger of being squeezed out in the coming elections following the polarisation in the CPI(M) ranks.

However, after Ms. Banerjee decided to walk out of the National Democratic Alliance, the party sees new hope. Senior Congress leaders admit Ms. Banerjee has become the symbol of the anti-Left feelings in the State, and that they will have no hesitation in projecting her as the chief ministerial candidate provided the two parties come to an agreement. ``We don't have a problem in giving her the top slot,'' says senior party leader.

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