Trinamool names 228 candidates

Trinamool names 228 candidates, leaves 64 seats for Congress

Kolkata, March 18 (IANS) Delivering a severe blow to the proposed alliance with the Congress for the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Friday announced a list of 228 candidates, leaving only 64 seats for the Congress which was bargaining for more.
'Today I am declaring the list of 228 candidates of Trinamool Congress. I could have announced the list of remaining 64 seats. But as an alliance scenario with the Congress is on, we are not announcing it,' Banerjee, who is also the railway minister, told reporters here later.
'But we have the list other 64 candidates and if Congress doesn't agree, then we will announce those also,' she made it clear.
The talks between senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the union finance minister, and Banerjee March 15 were inconclusive as both sides could not reach an agreement on seat-sharing for the six-phase April-May assembly elections in West Bengal.
Earlier, in 2009 the Trinamool and the Congress, along with the Socialist Unity Centre of India-Communist (SUCI-C), had joined hands before the Lok Sabha polls and decimated the Left Front that has been ruling the state since 1977. The alliance had bagged 26 of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats.
The Trinamool has given SUCI-C two seats. In its list of 228, Trinamool has fielded 34 female and 42 minority candidates.
Banerjee said the door of alliance was open but if the Congress did not agree with the seats allotted for it, she had the list of 64 candidates which she would announce Monday evening.
'I wanted an alliance that is why I waited for a positive nod from the Congress from March 1-18. But I cannot wait forever because very few days are left for the process of first phase of elections. Although we are small parties, but we are the real party in West Bengal,' she said.
The Congress and the Trinamool Congress decided to break the alliance for May 30 civic polls last year after both parties failed to clinch a seat sharing deal.
The Congress leadership, which was clearly taken aback by Trinamool Congress' unilateral announcement of list of candidates for 228 seats, Friday said it will discuss the new development.
'We are a political party and we should always remain for any eventuality. It's a new development and we will discuss the issue within our party and will come out with a comprehensive statement very soon,' Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed told IANS over phone.
'In spite of the Trinamool releasing the list of its candidates, I am very hopeful that the talks between the Congress leadership and the Trinamool supremo (Mamata Banerjee) will bear fruit,' said state Congress president Manas Bhuniya.
The SUCI-C leadership also expressed its disappointment over Trinamool unilaterally announcing its candidates and constituencies.
'We had demanded a total of 12 assembly seats. But I have come to know that we are given only two seats. We will discuss the issue with them. Let us see,' said Soumen Basu, senior SUCI-C leader.
The Trinamool's list of candidates for 228 assembly seats has its own share of singers, actors and artists.
The list has named various personalities such as former state chief secretary Manish Gupta and former Indian Police Service (IPS) officers Rachpal Singh and Sultan Singh.
The Trinamool also gave tickets to National Award winning actress Debashree Roy, Bengali actor Chiranjeet, theatre personality Bratya Basu and singers Anup Ghosal and Parikhit Bala.
''Maa Mati Manush' (mother, soil and people) will form its own government after winning two-thirds majority in the assembly. The people of Bengal will break the shackles of misrule of the Marxist government,' said Banerjee.

Ladies are so like each other in their behaviour.
A certain lady in the south had done the same.
She too had put out her list of candidates unilaterally.
However, her opponents mad such a ruckus that she had to withdraw her list and negotiate with her allies.
Mamata has done the same.
The Congress should not accept the crumbs she has thrown.
It is better to go down fighting than to accept such ignominious behaviour.
I would suggest Rahul to revive the Congress campaign in Bengal.