NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Ghani Khan threatens to quit Congress

Zakia Maryam in Calcutta

West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury today warned the party high command that he was prepared to leave the party if it does not join the mahajot (grand alliance) led by the Trinamul Congress with the Bharatiya Janata Party as a constituent.

Talking to reporters at his Salt Lake residence soon after a closed-door meeting with Trinamul chief Mamta Banerjee, Khan Chowdhury said, "If the leadership feels I am responsible for embarrassing the party by agreeing to the BJP's participation in the mahajot, they can expel me from the party. I am ready to walk away from the Congress."

A visibly upset Khan Chowdhury said the need of the hour was to reach a political understanding with Banerjee. Showering praise on the firebrand Union railway minister, he said Banerjee was the best known and most acceptable anti-CPI-M politician in West Bengal and no alliance could succeed in ending the Left's "misrule" without her support.

"I am sure the people of West Bengal too will extend their approval to the idea of mahajot. With Mamata's help, I will try to drive away the CPI-M from the state enabling the ruined state to once again stand high in the eyes of the world," he remarked.

Banerjee, on her part, was at pains to explain how the mahajot would succeed when a large section of Congress is vehemently opposing the BJP's participation in it. "The understanding is between us and the Congress. We will give seats from our share to the BJP, which is already a Trinamul ally in the state. Therefore, I do not foresee any trouble," she said.

She parried a question on whether the Congress would field candidates against the BJP. All she would say was that this was not the time to dwell on such possibilities. She, however, reiterated her earlier refrain inviting the "progressive" Left Front partners to join the alliance.

Banerjee's biggest concern now will be to convince the state BJP bigwigs to accommodate the Congress in the alliance. Union Minister of State for Telecommunications Tapan Sikdar has categorically stated that the grand alliance could only be a reality if the Congress split. But Banerjee wants to get the Congress in its entirety on her side.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report