BeyondHeadlines Special Correspondent
Kolkata: Giving a sigh of relief to Congress party, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has reportedly extended her deadline given to the Congress to announce its candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal.
On Friday, the Trinamool chief had unilaterally announced candidates for 228 constituencies, leaving ally Congress with 64 and another two for the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI).
Mamta Banarjee with Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee during an election campaign (file photo)
“We will be happy if Congress fields its candidates in 64 seats by Monday. Else, we will put our own candidates there including those from the minority community,” Mamata Banerjee had said.
Trinamool had made the announcement despite the Congress seeking some more time as it could not reach a consensus on the number of seats or the constituencies to be shared.
But sources now say that Mamata is unlikely to announce candidates for the seats left for the Congress today. She will only announce the manifesto.
Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee met Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi this morning and discussed the issue. The party president is said to be strongly in favour of the alliance.
