Cong. tie-up with Trinamool 'very soon'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 1. The Congress is working to give a final shape to its pact with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal with senior party leaders stating that the tie-up had more or less come through.

Mr. Kamal Nath, party general secretary in charge of West Bengal affairs, who returned to Delhi to consult the party chief, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, would head back to Kolkata tomorrow.

A statement issued by Mr. Kamal Nath said: ``With the positive trend of talks till now with the Trinamool, it is expected that the electoral alliance in line with the wishes of the people of Bengal would be finalised very soon.''

Apparently, while the tie-up was more or less in place, the nitty-gritty of the pact was being worked out.

There are reports of considerable pressure from the sitting MLAs for renomination and different formulations are being considered.

The West Bengal Pradesh Congress chief, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, told correspondents here that barring the number of seats the alliance between the Congress and the Trinamool was on course.

He, however, refused to disclose the number of seats and constituencies the party was seeking.

Mr. Mukherjee left for Kolkata tonight. He, too, had come to Delhi to discuss the developments in West Bengal with Ms. Gandhi.

The leaders have informed Ms. Gandhi about the demand of the 42 sitting MLAs to be renominated and also the demand for 29 seats where the party stood second last time.

The Congress has impressed upon the Trinamool chief, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, that it would not like to be associated even indirectly with the BJP.

PTI, UNI report:

The Congress said contesting 55 seats and having friendly fights in some other constituencies was one of the options before the party. ``It is one of the options. All the options are under discussion,'' Mr. Kamal Nath, told PTI.

BJP to field 200 candidates

In Kolkata, the BJP said it had decided to field about 200 candidates for the May 10 poll. Disclosing this to reporters after a day-long State election committee meeting, the BJP State unit president, Mr. Ashim Ghosh, said they could not wait indefinitely for the outcome of their ``present alliance'' with the Trinamool Congress.

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