BJP accuses Mamata of back-stabbing

By Malabika Bhattacharya

KOLKATA, MARCH 28. The Bharatiya Janata Party today charged the Trinamool Congress supremo, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, with ``stabbing'' in the back and snapped ties with the Trinamool.

Mr. Kailaspati Mishra, BJP vice-president, said here today that the party would now contest the coming Assembly elections in West Bengal in collaboration with NDA partners and some smaller parties.

``Our doors are now closed on the Trinamool. We will put up candidates in all the 294 seats,'' Mr. Mishra, who is here to attend the State BJP's election committee meeting, said. He said his party had received 450 applications seeking to contest the elections.

Trinamool leaders, however, said the party was still keen on having a one-two-one fight to ensure the defeat of the ruling Leftists. ``Even though the BJP says the alliance is off, our doors are still open for anti-CPI(M) forces,'' Mr. Mukul Roy, Trinamool general secretary, said.

Mr. Mishra said the BJP would never align with the Trinamool even if the latter's understanding with the Congress on seat-sharing fails. ``She (Ms. Banerjee) will have to give it in writing that she will support the NDA Government''.

Mr. Mishra said Ms. Banerjee had fallen into the trap laid by the Left parties and the Congress. ``I am certain that she will pay a heavy price for this''.

The BJP will hold a rally in the city's Brigade Parade Ground in the end of April which will be addressed by the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee. The Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, the former Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, the Orissa Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, and other NDA leaders will also participate.

Mr. Mishra said the BJP would embrace the disgruntled Trinamool functionaries into its fold. The Party will field them in the coming elections.

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