New Delhi: The Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance in West Bengal seems to be all stitched up but the Congress' high command's dilly-dallying is making Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee impatient.
It's been nine days since Banerjee met Pranab Mukherjee and agreed in-principle for the alliance but the inability to firm up the seat sharing arrangement has thrown up uncomfortable questions.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Mamata virtually set a deadline for the Congress, saying she was ready to fight elections alone if the Congress couldn't reach a decision soon.
She claimed that in her talks with Pranab Mukherjee they had agreed on 14 seats as the fair share for the Congress. She said five of these are in South Bengal. The Congress, desperate for a foothold in southern Bengal, is pushing for at least one more prime seat closer to Kolkata. Mamata Banerjee has warned any delay in announcing a deal would only help their rivals - the CPM.
Mamata is all set on fielding her candidates in 28 out of the 42 seats and leave the remaining 14 for the Congress.
The Congress, which on the other hand is desperate for a foothold in southern Bengal, is learnt to be pushing for at least one more prime seat closer to Kolkata.
Sources have confirmed the possibility of Mamata Banerjee unilaterally announcing her candidate list by Tuesday evening.
On March 1, the Congress and the Trinamool Congress announced that they would fight the elections together against the ruling Left Front in West Bengal, but an acceptable seat-sharing formula has eluded the two parties which are still engaged in hard bargaining over some constituencies.
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