Click to play videoKolkata: In less than 24 hours after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee gave a two-day ultimatum to the Congress to seal alliance with her party in West Bengal, the Congress has finally clinched a deal with her party.
The Congress has finally accepted TMC’s seat-sharing formula and will contest 14 of the 42 seats while the TMC would be in fray in 28.
Though Mamata agreed to swap the general category seat of Bankura instead of the reserve seat of Bishnupur with the Congress, she remained inflexible about partying with any further seats in Kolkata’s vicinity.
“I am goodwill messenger bringing Pranab Mukherjee’s good wishes against a united fight in Bengal,” says Pranab’s emissary to Mamata, Shukendu Shekhar Roy.
The Left Front had won 35 of the 42 seats in West Bengal in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. But because of a divided opposition in the state, it just got a vote share of about 51 per cent.
Now with the TMC reportedly making inroads into the state's rural heartland, the Left is apprehending a cut in its share of votes.
In such a situation, this alliance will help boost the vote bank of both the Congress and the TMC. Also the Congress needs TMC's support in southern Bengal to enhance its seat share from the tally of six last time.
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