Mamata Banerjee seeks a secular image

She may part ways with BJP before the panchayat polls

KOLKATA: The indication was there for quite some time. And now the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief, Mamata Banerjee, has given a clear hint that her party would prefer avoiding any political alliance either with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in view of the panchayat elections in West Bengal scheduled next year. The aim is obviously to give the party a more secular face keeping in view the huge chunk of minority voters.

Highly-placed sources from Trinamool Congress told DNA that an official announcement in this regard is expected anytime from now. “The present strategy is to totally distance ourselves from the state unit of BJP in any of our programs, especially as regards to the agitations against the state government on the issue of acquiring farming land for industry,” a senior Trinamool MLA said on condition of anonymity.

Only on Monday evening there was a clear signal from Mamata on her plans of future disassociation from BJP. On Monday, TC and BJP gave separate memorandums to the West Bengal governor, Gopal Krishna Gandhi for the demand of intervention on the Nandigram police firing. Although Mamata and BJP’s state president, Tathagat Roy came face to face while submitting their memorandums to Gandhi; there was not a single exchange of words between the two leaders.