May 11: Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday that had the Congress accepted Trina-mul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s terms for seat adjustments in the May 30 Kolkata civic election, the party’s existence would have been in jeopardy. Mr
Mukherjee, who is also West Bengal Congress president, added: “If someone thinks the meaning of an alliance is to make a 126-year-old party like the Congress go out of business, that is certainly not acceptable.”
Mr Mukherjee, while not naming Ms Banerjee, made it clear he was giving a “befitting reply” to the Trinamul leader, who had blamed him for the alliance collapsing. “Political allia-nces are forged to increase political strength, not to weaken one’s position,” he said, justifying turning down Ms Banerjee’s offer of 25 seats in the 141-member civic body. At the same time, he made it clear that the Congress and the Trinamul Congress could still have an alliance for next year’s state Assembly elections.