Mamata, Jaya exchange notes on new front; target 116 seats
8 March 2014 7:09 PM GMT
According to well-placed sources, the formation of another front with focus on the states of Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand has now begun in right earnest. The four states – Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha – together send 116 MPs to Lok Sabha.
A day after AIADMK snapped ties with the Left Front, the Tamil Nadu chief minister contacted her West Bengal counterpart and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. According to well-placed sources, formation of another front with focus on the states of Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand has now begun in right earnest. Millennium Post in its edition dated 25 February this year was the first to indicate that Jaya’s alliance with Left was all but over.
The call comes after Mamata had also said that she would be happy to support Jayalalithaa as PM candidate. The two political heavyweights are reported to have opened dialogue on marshalling like-minded regional parties and creating a non-Congress, non-BJP and non-Left alternative. More developments are expected before Mamata’s rally at Ramlila Maidan on 12 March. This rally is likely to be addressed by anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare.
According to sources, the two could approach their Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik for some kind of an arrangement or understanding on the matter. Patnaik and Jaya had earlier come together in June 2012 and signed a friendship treaty in the national capital. The two got together to announce the name of former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma as their candidate for the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Meanwhile, Patnaik in his own way is making quick political moves. The Biju Janata Dal supremo on Friday announced entering into an arrangement with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in tribal dominated Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts in the coming polls. Incidentally, JMM is running an alliance government with the Congress in Jharkhand but is not having the best of relations with its ally.
The JMM also enjoys some truck with Trinamool in West Bengal with Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh playing the role of interlocutor. Some of the Jharkhand splinter groups have already merged their outfits with Trinamool.
A day after AIADMK snapped ties with the Left Front, the Tamil Nadu chief minister contacted her West Bengal counterpart and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. According to well-placed sources, formation of another front with focus on the states of Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand has now begun in right earnest. Millennium Post in its edition dated 25 February this year was the first to indicate that Jaya’s alliance with Left was all but over.
The call comes after Mamata had also said that she would be happy to support Jayalalithaa as PM candidate. The two political heavyweights are reported to have opened dialogue on marshalling like-minded regional parties and creating a non-Congress, non-BJP and non-Left alternative. More developments are expected before Mamata’s rally at Ramlila Maidan on 12 March. This rally is likely to be addressed by anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare.
According to sources, the two could approach their Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik for some kind of an arrangement or understanding on the matter. Patnaik and Jaya had earlier come together in June 2012 and signed a friendship treaty in the national capital. The two got together to announce the name of former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma as their candidate for the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Meanwhile, Patnaik in his own way is making quick political moves. The Biju Janata Dal supremo on Friday announced entering into an arrangement with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in tribal dominated Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts in the coming polls. Incidentally, JMM is running an alliance government with the Congress in Jharkhand but is not having the best of relations with its ally.
The JMM also enjoys some truck with Trinamool in West Bengal with Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh playing the role of interlocutor. Some of the Jharkhand splinter groups have already merged their outfits with Trinamool.
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