Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee is not haggling for portfolios in the UPA government.
That’s because she has a bigger favour to ask of the Congress: early assembly polls in Bengal. The state is due to go to the polls in 2011.
Mamata’s main enemy being the CPI(M), she feels this is the right time to go for the kill. According to a political analyst in Kolkata, ever since the formation of her party in 1998, Mamata has projected herself as the face of the anti-CPI(M) movement. In the 2001 assembly polls, the Congress-TMC combine did not work in her favour. In the 2006 polls, her party won 30 of the 298 seats.
“She realises that her long-cherished dream of ruling Bengal can be a reality,” says the analyst. “The vote swing pattern for Trinamool in the Muslim-dominated district of Murshidabad has been similar to that of Bankura, which has a nominal Muslim presence. The swing against the Left Front has decreased from 51% in 2004 to 43.3% in 2009. She realises the time is right for early polls.”
A party source confirmed that Banerjee never harboured ministerial aspirations. “But one area where she will bargain is for early elections,” the source said, adding: “She hasn’t got a chance to put the proposal to the Congress, but will do it.”
The talk in political circles is that she will not be able to invoke Article 356 to topple the state government. Banerjee’s argument is based on the party’s LS performance. Of the 294 assembly segments, TMC won in 193, giving her a 52% edge over the Left at present. In the Jadavpur segment, which is the CM’s assembly seat, Bhattacharjee had a 48,000 lead in 2006. However, in this Lok Sabha, this segment has given the Trinamool a 14,000 lead. These figures have given Mamata enough meat to demand an end to CPI(M) rule.
