West Bengal on way to forming eighth Left Front government: Buddhadeb

By Special Correspondent

THE HINDU, May 5, 2011 01:31 IST

The people of West Bengal are well on their way to forming the eighth Left Front government in the State, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Wednesday.

Four phases of the on-going Assembly polls in the State have been held in which victory for the Left Front is certain. That victory for the Left Front is “inevitable” has been made clear in the polling held so far, he said in a press release.

The final two phases of the elections in the State are due on May 7 and 10.

It is in this situation that propaganda is being carried out in various ways to break the morale of Left workers. The setting up of an “imaginary Trinamool Congress ministry” is being publicised to influence a section of the electorate in the next two phases of the polls, the Chief Minister observed.

Such attempts were made by those opposed to the Left in the past too, but they proved futile. “It is our firm belief that this time around also, the people of West Bengal will break through this web of lies and ensure victory for the Left Front which is inevitable,” Mr. Bhattacharjee added.

His press release came on a day when a Bengali daily printed a lead story saying that a “confident” Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress chief, has even considered a list of probable Ministers of the next government with herself as Chief Minister.

There is also mention in the news report of not just who is to be the next Speaker of the State Assembly and Chairman of the Vidhan Parishad once it is set up, but also of who is take over as the next Railway Minister. It even mentions Ms. Banerjee's choice of the venue and date for the swearing in of her Ministry.

Asked by a local Bengali television channel whether she thinks that the Trinamool Congress may have got the required number of seats to form a government, now that polling in four phases was over, Ms. Banerjee said that given the spontaneity evident during polling, it was her belief that the people had hope and faith in her party.

Though she was prepared to accept the democratic verdict of the people and that there had been elections in the past where her party had lost, Ms. Banerjee said that any decision on who would be in her Ministry, in the event of the Trinamool Congress coming to power this time around, would be decided only “after the elections are over.” “Our party is very disciplined”, she added.