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Mamata puts up candidates in Delhi, Rajasthan

In a move that is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the ruling coalition in New Delhi, the Trinamul Congress led by Mamata Banerjee has decided to field two candidates each for the Delhi and Rajasthan assemblies.

Banerjee told reporters in Calcutta that the Bharatiya Janata Party, her electoral ally in West Bengal, had rejected her proposal to allot two seats to her party in the two states.

"Since there has been no response from the BJP, we have decided to field two candidates each in Rajasthan and New Delhi, where we feel we have some support and could make an impact," she said.

With barely 24 hours left for filing nominations in the two states, the militant Trinamul Congress leader advised her party's candidates to submit their papers.

Asked if this move wasn't in violation of the spirit of coalition, since the Trinamool Congress is a member of the BJP-led alliance at the Centre, she argued, "It will be a friendly fight."

In Madhya Pradesh too, where the BJP has dropped former minister Jayanti Banerjee in Jabalpur, the Trinamool Congress has decided to support her as an independent.

But despite much persuasion, Banerjee declined to name either her candidates or their constituencies in Delhi and Rajasthan.

Referring to her withdrawal from the co-ordination committee at the Centre, Banerjee said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee called her again yesterday and asked her to come to New Delhi, but she said she was busy with arrangements for the assembly bye-elections in West Bengal and would meet him at the meeting of the railway standing committee on November 12.

UNI

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