The decision of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to withdraw from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and extend only issue-based support to the Centre on Saturday has cast a shadow over the negotiations on seat-sharing between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress for the Assembly polls in West Bengal and a speedy resolution of the logjam does not seem to be in sight.
The last time that the Congress and the Trinamool Congress reached an electoral adjustment to contest the Assembly elections in the 294 seats in West Bengal was in 2001 when the Congress had fielded 57 candidates and backed two independents and the Trinamool contested 237 seats.
While the ground realities in the State have significantly changed since then, the Trinamool leadership has indicated that it will offer about 60 seats to the Congress and contest the remaining with its other allies such as the Socialist Unity Centre of India — nearly the same allocation that was settled upon a decade ago.
The State leadership of the Congress, however, has pressed for seats to be allocated in the same ratio as was done during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, i.e. two-thirds of the seats to be allocated to the Trinamool (196) and one-third to the Congress (98). A call for “an alliance of respect” has been made by several leaders.
However, the Congress' poor performance in the civic polls held in May 2010 when the two parties failed to come to an electoral agreement and the drubbing the party received in the Assembly elections in Bihar where it chose to go it alone has tilted the scales in favour of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in these rounds of discussions.
The breakdown in talks between the Congress and the DMK on seat-sharing for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections could well improve Ms. Banerjee's chances in having things her way in West Bengal, given that the Trinamool's role as partner in the UPA government becomes all the more vital with the DMK deciding to pull out.
Even as Pradesh Congress Committee chief Manas Bhunia had on several occasions emphasised the rationale behind the PCC's demand, he has also said that the final call on the matter rested with the high command.
Meanwhile, a section of the PCC leadership has also expressed the view that at present sustaining the alliance with the Trinamool was more vital than pushing for a larger number of seats, particularly as the two parties have maintained excellent relations at the Centre.
But, Dr. Bhunia has not only spoken out about the number of seats to be allocated to the Congress, but also talked of “equally sharing the good and the bad seats — the benefit and the burden.”
While the Trinamool has a foothold in the southern parts of the State including Kolkata, the centre of power, the Congress' reach is presently limited to certain districts in north Bengal.
