Mamata smells polls and role in Delhi

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Mamata Banerjee Calcutta, March 8: Mamata Banerjee today repeated her prediction of early Lok Sabha polls and hinted at Trinamul being a part of the next government at the Centre, without specifying on which side her party would be. Addressing members of Trinamul Mahila Congress at a programme to commemorate Women's Day, the chief minister said the railway ministry could be back with Trinamul "if necessary". "If some people think they can block the projects that I brought to Bengal as railway minister, they cannot do so. I have done everything. The Lok Sabha elections are a matter of two-three months. Darkar holey rail daftar abaar Trinamuler kaachhei aashbe (if necessary, the railway ministry will come back to Trinamul)," Mamata said at the Netaji Indoor Stadium programme. She, however, did not mention the Centre. Trinamul insiders said Mamata was "weighing her options" at a time the results of the February 23 bypolls had shown the "need" for a Congress-Trinamul alliance. "The bypoll results have shown that the Congress and Trinamul need to be together to keep the Left out of power. Mamatadi will take the final call and is keeping her options open," a Trinamul vice-president said. In Nalhati, one of the three constituencies where the bypolls were held, the Forward Bloc won the seat but had the Congress and Trinamul fought together, they would have got 20,000 votes more than the Left party. Trinamul sources said early Lok Sabha polls, slated for 2014, would suit the party. "Given the situation the Congress is in, only bringing the elections forward could work in its favour. The same thing is true for us as well. There is no doubt that there is a growing disenchantment with our government among people in the urban areas. Early polls will help us counter that," a senior Trinamul leader said. During today's programme, Mamata accused the Centre of trying to thwart the development programmes initiated by her government. "There is a conspiracy against the state government. When it sees Bengal is making progress, the Centre deliberately slows down the process of disbursing money. They are behaving like crabs. It is a matter of two-three months and we will find out who will pull whom back," she said. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130309/jsp/bengal/story_16651415.jsp#.UTs_lqJQl4I