DNA

• She is lobbying for a berth in the UPA ministry for her close aide

Kolkata, Sep 9: Pushed to the fringes of Bengal politics, Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is likely to severe ties with the NDA and align with the Congress soon after the forthcoming festive season.

This is the second time Mamata is leaving the NDA. She is already lobbying for a berth in the UPA ministry for her close aide Mukul Roy.

“Mamata is caught in a political vacuum. Bagging just 29 seats out of the 294 in the last West Bengal elections, Trinamul Congress has lost the space of the principal opposition. For political survival, she has no option but to get close to the Congress,” said a Trinamul MLA and a close associate of Mamata.

Mamata has already made the first moves by not putting up candidates against the Congress in Purulia and Malda where Lok Sabha by polls will be held on September 16.

Commenting on the future alliance between the Congress and Mamata and its impact on Bengal politics, a veteran CPI(M) leader, “What impact? The last time they fought an Assembly election together in 2001, the combine could not even cross the 100 seat mark.”

Reciprocating Mamata’s gesture, the Congress will not put up a candidate against Trinamul Congress for the Bongaon Assembly by-elections also scheduled for September 16.

However, political analysts said that Mamata would not bring much to the Congress table as she had lost credibility with her flip-flop politics.