Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh has warned that there is a likelihood of a Trinamul (TMC) alliance with the BJP. What can be the reason for the patch-up? The timing is mysterious. Mamata Banerjee is fighting serious charges of corruption against her party and her senior colleagues. West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra is getting his bail petition rejected repeatedly. On the other hand, the Modi government is celebrating its first anniversary with a stress on its corruption-free image. Until recently, Modi and Mamata were at loggerheads. Mamata accused the Prime Minister many times of letting the CBI loose on her party in the Saradha scam inquiry. Then came the volte-face. The BJP and the TMC came together passing legislation in parliament. Modi and Mamata were together at the IISCO programme in Burnpur. Finally, BJP minister of state Babul Supriya had a ride together with Mamata and shared puffed rice with chillies with the West Bengal Chief Minister.
The Bengal BJP leadership is in a quandary. Rajesh Sinha, president of the State unit, has said that its fight against the TMC will continue. He went to the extent of threatening armed action against TMC activists who were beating up his men in Birbhum. Actress Rupa Ganguly belonging to the BJP attacked Babul Supriya for his praise of Mamata’s energy. Party minders from the high command came to Kolkata to take Supriya to task. No.2 in the BJP cabinet, Arun Jaitley also ruled out an alliance between his party and the TMC. At the other end of the spectrum, the new secretary general of the CPI(M), Sitaram Yechuri who had expressed his goodwill to Sonia Gandhi and supported the nuclear energy pact with the US, has seen an ugly threat in Mamata’s about-turn. According to him, it is a ploy to get her party out of the Saradha scam. CPI (M) member of parliament Mohammed Salim has been asked to focus special attention on his state. The plot thickens in West Bengal.
