Mamata hints at alliance between TMC and CPIM, Left rejects her overtures

The News Minute | August 31, 2014 | 03:08 pm ISTTrinamool Congress Chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, now, seems to be open to the idea of working together with the CPI-M.In an interview on Bengali News Channel 24 Ghanta, Banerjee said that she would be open to a discussion, on the subject of alliance between the two parties, if tabled, states a report by The Hindu.She also hinted at a possible alliance with the Congress, in an attempt to give stiff competition to the BJP, a party she feels has created an atmosphere in which ‘a communal “riot can be easily instigated,”’ adds the report. Banerjee also called the recent RJD-JDU alliance ‘grand’.However Hindustan Times reported that the Left on Saturday rejected Banerjee's hints of an alliance between the Left and TMC, calling it a gimmick. â€œIf she is serious about a secular alliance then she has to explain why she entered into an alliance with the BJP during the earlier regime,” Suryakanta Mishra, leader of opposition in the West Bengal assembly and CPI(M) politburo member, told HT.JDU leader Nitish Kumar and RJD Chief Lalu Prasad’s alliance, along with the Congress, in Bihar Assembly bypoll recently managed to successfully counter the BJP by winning six out of the ten seats in the state. Earlier it was reported that Mamata Banerjee was looking at secular regional parties in three states that are heading for by polls.According to a separate report published by Hindustan Times on August 25, the Trinamool Congress was said to be looking for alliances with the Bharip Bahujan Mahasangn, headed by B R Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar in Maharashtra. In Jharkhand, the TMC will contest 15 of the state's assembly seats on its own, and will contest more if it finds a suitable alliance partner. In Haryana too, it is on the lookout for a party to tie up with, but is aiming at gaining the support of Muslims, HT reported.In 2011, the Trinamool Congress, in a landslide victory, defeated the CPI-M led Left government in the state, that had been ruling for 34 years. Didi, as she is fondly known, then became the first woman Chief Minister of the state.