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Panja to continue supporting NDA

Subhra Priyadarshini in Calcutta

Dissident Trinamul Congress politician Ajit Panja asserted on Friday that he would continue to support the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the Centre despite party chief Mamata Banerjee withdrawing support.

He also expressed strong opposition to the Trinamul-Congress alliance for the May 10 assembly election in West Bengal.

"I am maintaining my support to the NDA from outside except on the Tehelka issue, where I shall abstain [from voting in Parliament] as per the unanimous decision taken at the Trinamul parliamentary party meeting," Panja told the Press Trust of India in an interview in Calcutta.

The state Trinamul chairman, who has revolted against Banerjee's "autocracy", expressed himself against the electoral alliance with the Congress, saying there was still time to consider "going it alone and redressing the wrong".

"There is still time. Trinamul should declare that it will fight alone and see the result... We will form the government and I take that responsibility," the former Union minister said.

"I have a feeling that Banerjee will come out of the alliance," he added.

On the electoral prospects of the alliance, Panja said the Congress stood "no chance" of winning, but the people would vote for the Trinamul, though "with anguish".

Continuing his tirade against Banerjee for the alleged lack of democracy in the party, he said, "Even if we suppose that Trinamul has become the private property of Banerjee, she has failed to take care of that property. She has shown callous indifference towards it."

Dismissing the need for a change in the party's leadership, Panja said he had also not thought of breaking from the Trinamul. "It is my child, how can I divide it? I don't think we need a change in leadership. If she [Banerjee] corrects herself, we only need a change in attitude," he remarked.

Asked if his allegations against Banerjee just prior to the election would mar the party's prospects, Panja said he had not "timed" his outburst, just as Banerjee had not timed the "insult and humiliation" meted out to him.

"After the parliamentary party meeting on March 16, I knew I was not needed by the party anymore. Secondly, I did not want to be stamped as an opportunist by opening my mouth only after the polls," he said.

Blaming state Congress president Pranab Mukherjee, Communist Party of India, Marxist, general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet and a "coterie in the party which followed Banerjee blindly" for her "altered way of functioning", Panja said, "Banerjee is being eclipsed by these villains."

He said Banerjee had not yet spoken to him to sort out "thorny" issues. "But I'm ready to talk, if she comes forward."

On veteran Congress politician A B A Ghani Khan Choudhury's strong reservations on the seat-sharing formula with the Trinamul Congress in Malda district, Panja said, "I extend open support to him. He knows the pulse of his people and protects his constituency."

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party welcomed Panja's statement of support. State BJP president Ashim Ghose said, "We welcome it. Until recently Panja was a central minister. We have good relations with him."

PTI

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