Leaving the pre-civic polls acrimony behind, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and railway minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday not only shared stage at a high-profile programme of the Railways and Kolkata Port Trust but they also jointly met governor M.K. Narayanan. This is the first time that the two leaders visited the Raj Bhavan together. They were closeted with Mr Narayanan for nearly an hour. Mr Mukherjee spent some more time at the Raj Bhavan after Ms Banerjee left.
Political observers said that the development was of far-reaching consequences. Although neither Mr Mukherjee nor Ms Banerjee revealed what transpired during their unusual meeting with the governor, their visit fuelled speculation of early Assembly elections in the state.
Although Election Commissioner Y.S. Quraishi ruled out early polls, the Trinamul Congress is insisting that since the Left Front has lost people’s support, it should seek fresh mandate. “Didi wants early polls but not under President’s rule. It is therefore unlikely that Mr Mukherjee and Ms Banerjee requested the governor to urge the Centre to invoke Article 356,” a Trinamul Congress MP said.
He revealed that the two leaders discussed the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
Another issue which was discussed at length was the Maoist menace and the ongoing joint operation, he added.
After the break down of the seat-adjustment talks between the Trinamul Congress and the Congress in May, the relations between the two leaders had soured. Mr Mukherjee and Ms Banerjee had publicly attacked each other. However, after the Trinamul Congress’ spectacular victory in the polls, Ms Banerjee herself took the initiative of mending fences with the Congress in general and Mr Mukherjee in particular.