Didi ready with TMC poll list

KOLKATA: Immediately after the Election Commission announced the poll dates in West Bengal on Tuesday, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee announced in Kolkata that her list of candidates was ready but she was waiting for Congress to draw up its own before negotiations for seat adjustment could begin.

Mamata was, however, confident that the negotiations with Congress over seat-adjustment would not delay the announcement of the Trinamool list. "It is a small issue. We have an alliance at the all-India level," she said, adding, "we will have to talk to Congress".

The Trinamool chief made it clear that canvassing for Trinamool tickets would be of no use. "We will give nominations only to those who are loyal to the party and who are prepared to dedicate their lives to work for the cause of common people."

Mamata deftly parried the question when asked if she would become chief minister if Trinamool is voted to power. "People will decide who they will vote for. If we are voted to power, we will work for the people." But she described the coming assembly poll in West Bengal as a "historic election", in which the "35-year-rule" of the Left Front would come to an end and a new government of "Ma-Mati-Manush" would be elected.

Echoing the slogan that her party has made famous, Mamata said that in the past few years under CPM rule, the most oppresses have been the "mothers, the land and the common people" of the state. Ever since the "defeat of CPM in the last Lok Sabha election in 2009", common people had been praying for the assembly elections, so that the CPM-led government could be voted out of power, she said, welcoming the decision of the Election Commission to announce the poll dates.

Mamata said she would keep faith on the prudence of the Election Commission in deploying Central paramilitary forces in such a manner that the elections could be held in a free and fair manner. But arms and ammunition stockpiled by CPM cadres in different districts must be unearthed before polling begins, she said.

Although Trinamool would make sure that examinees were not disturbed by poll campaigns of the party, Mamata said the circular of the pollution control board on controlling the use of microphones was being "misinterpreted by the state government to stifle opposition parties" during poll campaigning. "We will draw the attention of the Election Commission to this," she said.