JOIN USNarendra Modi’s soft stand on Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee has not only left the Chief Minister of West Bengal somewhat embarrassed, but has also led to speculations that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not yet ruled out chances of a post-poll alliance with the TMC.
According to TMC sources, Modi’s tacit praise for Mamata has left her uncomfortable and she would have preferred if the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate had launched a tirade against her. “To make matters worse, BJP national president Rajnath Singh also sided with her on the moratorium issue,” a TMC leader said. Singh said during Wednesday’s rally in Kolkata that Bengal should have received an economic package from the Centre.
Though TMC General Secretary Mukul Roy refused to comment on the matter, a senior leader pointed out that the stand taken by two senior BJP leaders could alienate minority voters from TMC. Sources said that Mamata has been seeking to distance herself from the BJP as much as she can before the Lok Sabha elections and had even launched an attack against Modi at her January 30 rally, when she called him the “face of riot”, without naming him.
The only response to Modi’s rally came through TMC’s official website, which stated, “At a rally in Kolkata on February 5, the honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat made a few statements which were factually incorrect.”